http://www.cuminggillespie.com

The following is a status update from the regarding the Vioxx class proceedings in Ontario. The Alberta Vioxx class proceeding will be moving forward through the Ontario National Class Action.

On October 22, 2009, the Supreme Court dismissed three leave applications relating to the Ontario class action (Mignacca v. Merck). The result of the Supreme Court’s decisions is that the Ontario action is currently the only certified Vioxx class action in Canada outside of Quebec. That being said, the defendants (”Merck”) continue to challenge certification in Ontario .

In May 2008, the Saskatchewan court certified a Saskatchewan action as a national opt-out class action. However, on March 30, 2009, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal set aside the certification order and refused to grant leave to amend the pleadings. Mr. Merchant – counsel for the proposed Saskatchewan  sought leave to the Supreme Court and was refused by its October 22, 2009 decision. This effectively ends the stand-alone Saskatchewan class action.

Status of the Ontario Class Action

On July 28, 2008, Justice Cullity certified this Ontario action as a national class action relating to Vioxx excluding Quebec. However, Merck continues to challenge certification.

The litigation battle continues in Ontario, and we will keep our clients apprised as the matter continues.

CUMING & GILLESPIE

McLENNAN ROSS LLP / CUMING & GILLESPIE LAWYERS

We are pleased to report that on June 23, 2009, Judge Miller of the United States District Court of Southern California granted our Motion to Intervene in the Interpleader Application in San Diego.  Jude Miller ordered that only directly traceable claims are to be recognized, that the aggregators with directly traceable claims will not be recognized and must await the outcome of the Canadian action and that the funds remaining after the directly traceable claims and administrative expenses are paid will be paid into court in our action.

This successful application is the result of several years work, and we are pleased with the outcome.

On another note, on or about June 12, 2009, the Notice of Class Action was sent to the last known address for any investors we had record of, other than those investors who have already signed a Contingency Fee Agreement with us.  These investors will have 60 days to Opt Into (for Non-Alberta residents), or Opt-Out of (for Alberta Residents) the Class Action.

We are also in the process of exchanging document productions with Defendants, and scheduling Examinations for Discoveries of those parties on their documents throughout the coming summer and fall.

We will continue to update you with any news if there is anything to update you with.  But please remember that we ask that you not call or e-mail for updates.  It is very time consuming and expensive for us to deal with clients seeking individual updates, so please understand that if you do not receive an update for several months, this means that there is nothing newsworthy to share with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours truly,

Lynn Dechaine (for Graham McLennan)

Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

An amended statement of claim for the HMS Financial case has been posted to the case page.

Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker are very pleased to announce that our firm is currently locating and assisting Alberta claimants in the Medtronic medical devices national class action. We currently require an Alberta Health care number and other various information in order to properly assess claims for damages for both individuals and Estates of deceased individuals. Additionally, Alberta Health will be bringing forth a claim through the litigation to recover their health care costs

For further information, please contact our office directly.

McLENNAN ROSS LLP / CUMING GILLESPIE RAYMAKER

We are very pleased to report that on October 10, 2008 we received the decision from Justice Rooke certifying our action as a Class Action as well as dismissing, with some minor qualifications, the applications by the defendant Banks to strike the action against them. We see this as a major success in the action.

What does certification of the action mean? Certification is the first critical step in a Class Action lawsuit. It is what turns a regular action on behalf of only the representative plaintiffs who filed the Statement of Claim, into an action on behalf of all of the innocent investors in the HMS Scheme. This will require the Defendants to evaluate the risk against them. The claim is now a much bigger amount, as it is on behalf of the whole Plaintiff class rather than two or three individual plaintiffs. There is the possibility that the defendants, or some of the defendants, could appeal the decision. But certification of the action means that we can now begin the process of regular litigation, including exchange of documents between the parties as well as Examinations for Discovery of the major defendants in the litigation.

We thank you all for your patience. We understand how slow litigation can seem, especially in cases this complicated and involving so many parties. We ask that you continue to be patient, as, while the litigation will now be able to move forward, the next steps can still be time consuming and slow moving.

We will continue to update you with any news if there is anything to update you with. But please remember that we ask that you please not call or e-mail for updates. It is very time consuming and expensive for us to deal with clients seeking individual updates, so please understand that if you do not receive an update for several months, this means that there is nothing newsworthy to share with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours truly,

Lynn Dechaine (for Graham McLennan)
Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker is proud to announce that Justice Cullity of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has appointed our co-counsel group, led by Won J. Kim of Kim Orr LLP, and James Newand of Lerners LLP as lead counsel in the Canadian national class action claim. Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker are proud to be Alberta counsel for this matter and we are excited to proceed with seeking certification of a national class action comprising all persons implanted with Guidant Pace Maker and Defibrillator devices throughout Canada.

Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker is proud to announce we have joined the national counsel team led by Won J. Kim of Kim Orr LLP in Toronto in the proposed national class action regarding Guidant Defibrillators.

A similar claim in the U.S. resolved on a global basis for approximately $214,000,000.00.

Should you have any inquiries with respect to Guidant Defibrillator claims please contact James Cuming of Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker.

Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker, and our class action partners, Kim Orr, Lerners, Rochon Genova (and others) are very, very pleased to announce that Justice Hoy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has declared a certified national class in the case of Peter et al v. Medtronic of Canada.

This matter will now move forward to the notice stage, and then potentially proceed to a trial on the merits of the claim.

The certification was successful in that it was determined there was an identifiable class, the class members have common issues, a national class action was the preferable procedure and, for the first time in Canadian class action jurisprudence history in a pharmaceutical action a waiver of tort was granted to the Plaintiff class. This means that if the Plaintiffs are successful in their class action they will be able to disgorge profits from the Defendant Manufacturer on the conclusion of the claim.

For further inquiries with respect to the Medtronic claim please contact James Cuming of Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker.

The national certification hearing on Vioxx is now set for June 24-27 in Toronto, Canada.

A Communication to Class Members from the National Counsel Team:

In recent days and months, there has been significant media coverage about developments in Vioxx litigation, both in Canada and in the United States and you may be confused about what these developments mean and how they affect your rights. This update aims to provide you with some explanations and assistance in understanding the current situation with Vioxx litigation in Canada.

In November, 2007, Merck & Co. announced that it had agreed conditionally to settle a significant portion of the Vioxx claims in the U.S., setting aside approximately $4.85 billion to do so. Even though those cases deal with the exact same drug as the Canadian litigation, Merck has, to date, made no effort to establish a parallel settlement for Canadian users of Vioxx and Merck Frosst Canada Ltd. has publicly and repeatedly stated its intention to vigorously defend all Vioxx lawsuits in Canada.

The defendants have raised various procedural hurdles which have slowed the progress of the litigation. As a result, all Vioxx lawsuits in Canada remain in various stages of litigation. In Ontario, there is a proposed national class action which has been brought on behalf of all Canadian users of Vioxx and their family members. A consortium of 19 eminent law firms from all across Canada has come together to collectively represent Canadians in this lawsuit and advance the strongest case possible. At this stage, all Canadians who took Vioxx (and their family members) are covered by this lawsuit, whether they take any active steps to contact counsel or not.

The Ontario action was originally scheduled to proceed to its certification hearing in October, 2007. This hearing is a mandatory step in the litigation process and decides whether or not the action should be allowed to proceed as a single class action lawsuit, for the benefit of all class members. Shortly before the Ontario hearing was scheduled to proceed, the defendants sought and were granted an adjournment in order to conduct cross-examinations of various witnesses. The rescheduled hearing was set to commence on February 13, 2008, but only several days before the certification hearing, the defendants sought to have Mr. Allan Rock, Q.C., the firm of Sutts, Strosberg LLP and the National Counsel Team disqualified as a result of Mr. Rock’s previous political career, during which he served, among other things, as the federal Minister of Health. As a result of this last minute motion, the certification hearing was, once again, adjourned.

Mr. Justice Maurice Cullity of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice heard the removal motion on February 15, 2008. In a decision released on February 26, 2008, his Honour decided that Mr. Rock would have no further involvement in this case; however, Sutts, Strosberg LLP and the rest of the National Counsel Team remain as counsel in this action and strongly believe that the certification hearing should be rescheduled as soon as possible, and hopefully no later than April, 2008.

On November 9, 2006, Justice Andre Denis of the Quebec Superior Court authorized a class action for Quebec residents who suffered damages caused by the use of Vioxx. That case pertains to residents of Quebec only and is also continuing to work its way through the legal system.

In further recent Canadian Vioxx news, a separate case launched in Saskatchewan was certified as a class action in a decision released on February 20, 2008. We welcome the decision of Mr. Justice John Klebuc in determining that litigation related to Vioxx is an appropriate case for certification; however, we note also that Merck has already indicated its intention to appeal that decision which will likely stay the certification decision and any related certification order. Practically speaking, this means that this case will be on hold until Merck’s appeal rights are exhausted.

We should also note that the decision allows Canadians who do not reside in Saskatchewan to participate in the class action on an “opt in” basis. If you do not reside in Saskatchewan but choose to “opt in” to this action, you may be precluded from participating in the Ontario action or be represented by the National Counsel Team. It will be very important to consider how your rights will be affected before deciding whether or not to opt in to the Saskatchewan class action. Again, in view of Merck’s intention to appeal Mr. Justice Klebuk’s decision, it is likely that this aspect of the case will be on hold pending the appeals process as well.

Because Merck has not, to date, indicated any willingness to make any settlement proposal for Canadian Vioxx users, in spite of their multi-billion dollar settlement proposal in the US, the current strategy of the National Counsel Team is to drive the Ontario litigation forward and deal with the case on the merits. The time for class members to make any necessary decisions about how to advance their individual claims will arise after these various proceedings have been finally determined following a common issues trial. It is unfortunately not possible to predict with certainty how long this process may take; however updates will be provided as they become available.

As members of the National Counsel Team, we wish to express our appreciation to all class members for their patience to date with this complex litigation and we wish to assure you all that everything is being done to ensure that you receive the justice you so rightly deserve.

Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker are very happy to announce the addition of Lerners LLP of London, Ontario to the National Class Action Team for the Accutane litigation. Lerners LLP brings a wealth of experience and talent to the class action which will be proceeding shortly through the Ontario Superior Court. James Cuming of Cuming, Gillespie & Raymaker is one of the primary counsel on the national class action claim.

We will continue to keep our clients apprised as to the progress of the Accutane National Class Action which will be proceeding on Ontario.