More on Merck - "We can always second-guess, but," opines brandname product liability attorney

A prominent product liability attorney weighs in on the Merck issue: Was the settlement premature. 

This lawyer opines, "One can always second-guess, but it was the uncertainty of those pending appeals that helped drive the settlement.  With reduced uncertainty, while the number might have been smaller, there's less likelihood that the plaintiffs would have taken it.  Take Mark Lanier, for example.  How do you think he feels after having been spanked by the Texas Court of Appeals like that?  Rather then settle, his ego might demand that he fight (that is, take another case to trial and ring the bell again) rather than accept a reduced settlement number."

Is this a replay of the seeming ego and bad judgment in the case depicted in book and movie "A Civil Action?"