Merck's Waiver of the Walk Away Right as of August 4, 2008

Merck announced on July 17, 2008 that the Enrollment thresholds have been met and that it is waiving its Walk Away Right under Section 11.1.1 of the Settlement Agreement, as of August 4, 2008. As a result, the Enrollment Deadline Date is now October 30, 2008, pursuant to Section 17.1.26 of the Settlement Agreement. Claimants may continue to Enroll in the Settlement Program until October 30, 2008.

DEADLINE NOTICE

The deadline for those Claimants wishing to Enroll to be considered for an Interim Payment passed on February 29, 2008. If you submitted an Enrollment Form with a list identifying the Claimants to be submitted for Enrollment by the Interim Payment Deadline, you had until March 31, 2008, to send the Claims Administrator the properly and fully completed and executed Release, Stipulation of Dismissal if the Claimant has a pending suit, Medical Records Authorization Form and Employment Records Authorization Form if seeking Extraordinary Injury Payments, and Certification of Final Enrollment with Claimant Spreadsheet all in the proper format. The deadline for submitting the remaining Enrollment Materials to be considered for an Interim Payment passed on March 31, 2008.

Because Merck announced the waiver of its Walk Away Right as of August 4, 2008, the Enrollment Deadline Date under Section 1.2.2 and Section 17.1.26 of the Settlement Agreement is October 30, 2008. This is the final deadline for Enrolling Claimants in the Program. Thus Claimants may Enroll in the Program using the methods described in these Instructions, but must do so on or before October 30, 2008. Claimants who Enroll after February 29, 2008, and on or before October 30, 2008, will not be considered for an Interim Payment. Instead, the amount of any compensation to which they are entitled under the Program will be paid in full in a single payment at the time final payments are made. The Certification of Final Enrollment is required of all Primary Counsel to indicate completion of the Enrollment stage for the firm's Vioxx clients. The CFE was due on May 1, 2008. Any Primary Counsel who has not submitted a CFE should do so as soon as possible.

See the Step-by-Step Enrollment Instructions for further details on all Enrollment requirements.

Status of Enrollment Submissions

You may visit your Vioxx Portal to see what Enrollment Materials the Claims Administrator has received as to each of your Claimants. To access this function, log on to your Vioxx Portal and click on Enrollment on the left side of the screen to be taken to the Enrollment Main Page. On the Enrollment Main Page, select "4. Enrollment Status" to search your list of Claimants to determine whether the Claims Administrator has received a Release, Stipulation, Medical Authorization, or Employment Authorization as to a particular Claimant. The screen will state "Received" if the Claims Administrator has received that particular document as to that Claimant. If it does not state "Received," then the Claims Administrator has not received that document as to that Claimant.

The Claims Administrator also uses this vehicle to convey to you information on whether these Enrollment Documents have been reviewed for completeness and to notify you of any Deficiencies in a reviewed document under the Completeness Criteria agreed upon by the Parties to the Settlement Program, and the action you need to take to cure that Deficiency. That information is posted to your Portal after your submissions have been reviewed by Merck and the Claims Administrator. If a deficiency is found in one of your submissions for a Claimant, we post notice of that assessment on this section of your Portal, including the action required to correct the problem and when the cure is due. If you then submit a timely cure, the Claimant will be considered to be Enrolled based upon the date of your original submission of that document.