Merck To Pay $58M In Vioxx Ad Settlement

Lawsuit Claimed Merck Downplayed Health Risks Of Once-Popular Painkiller

(AP)  Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $58 million as part of a multistate settlement of allegations that its ads for the once-popular painkiller Vioxx deceptively played down the health risks.

The agreement announced Tuesday also calls for Merck to submit all new TV commercials for its drugs to the Food and Drug Administration for review.

The civil settlement ends investigations by 29 states and the District of Columbia into Merck's advertising practices involving Vioxx, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said.

Wisconsin's share of the judgment will be nearly $1.6 million, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a news release.

Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 after research showed it doubled the risk of heart attacks and strokes. That triggered thousands of lawsuits against Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck. A pending $4.85 billion settlement would end the bulk of those personal injury suits.

Thanks to aggressive marketing through direct-to-consumer television ads begun in 1999, hundreds of thousands of consumers demanded Vioxx prescriptions before doctors had a chance to understand the side effects, Corbett said.

"Consumers need clear information about the risks associated with prescription drugs so that they can make well-informed decisions about their health care," Corbett said.

An FDA spokeswoman did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment Tuesday.

The agreement calls for Merck to submit all new TV commercials for its drugs to the FDA for review and follow through with any changes the agency recommends before airing them for seven years. Additionally, for a 10-year period Merck must comply with any FDA recommendations to delay television advertising for newly approved pain medications.

Merck is also prohibited from "ghostwriting," a practice in which people who worked for the company or were otherwise connected to it allegedly wrote positive articles and studies about Vioxx, Corbett said.

Merck is not admitting any wrongdoing under the settlement and defended its marketing of Vioxx in a statement Tuesday.

"Today's agreement enables Merck to put this matter behind us and focus on what Merck does best, developing new medicines," said Bruce Kuhlik, Merck's executive vice president and general counsel.

Corbett's spokesman, Kevin Harley, said the settlement does not require approval by any court.

Most of the settlement cost will be covered by a $55 million pretax charge that Merck said it took in the first quarter.

Pennsylvania officials could not immediately provide a breakdown of how the $58 million will be divided.

In February, Merck agreed to pay $671 million to settle claims it overcharged the government for Vioxx and three other popular drugs and bribed doctors to prescribe its drugs. The announcement by federal prosecutors was one of the biggest U.S. health care fraud settlements ever.

In addition to Pennsylvania, the states included in Tuesday's settlement are Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin.

Merck shares fell 12 cents to $39.90 in afternoon trading Tuesday.

[democrat122]

The Vioxx story has always been blown out of proportion. In the original trial of 8076 patients, there were 0.3% more heart attacks in the half that got vioxx - that''s a total of 7 people - but NO increase in deaths - oh, and it saved hundreds from bleeding stomach ulcers. After this finding in 2000, risk of cardiovacular disease was appropriately added to the drug label by Merck. 4 years later it became a media sensation for unclear reasons - since this had been a known risk included in the product insert ever since 2000. Vioxx was then pulled from the market. Why? We use many, many drugs with much worse and more common side effects - all drugs have a chance of killing you actually - we weigh the risks and benefits of each drug with each patient. Why was vioxx different? Media sensation, and now the old American pasttime of suing. This was a known risk of the drug, easily readable on the product insert. These lawsuits are a travesty.

[msay3]

Seems to me that Merck is interested in the welfare of their pockets before the welfare of people

[msay3]

Drug companies should NOT be allowed to advertise. It adds to the cost of medications for everyone, and they ''''encourage'''' people to talk to their doctors about their product. This is just wrong. Posted by NonayaBiness

Not only that, but the study results of Zetia, a very expensive cholesterol lowering drug, were withheld for two years because it was proven that Zetia was no more effective than aspsrin for preventing heart disease or stroke. Why did they withhold that info for so long? They had to recoup their expenses. What a crock!!

[nonayabiness]

Drug companies should NOT be allowed to advertise. It adds to the cost of medications for everyone, and they ''encourage'' people to talk to their doctors about their product. This is just wrong.

It''s one thing that the oil tycoons are gouging the American public. It''s another thing altogether, and much worse, that pharmacy companies push their untested products to consumers at a ridiculous cost, just to determine in several cases later that the medication has to be pulled off the market because the side effects and adverse health implications are much greater than the benefits the medication was intended to provide.

[stn_sage]

This "settlement" is laughable! It''s a disgrace. And it shouldn''t be considered legal!

58 million dollars divided between the defendants in 29 states?! With the STATE---and NOT the agrieved claimants---receiving a paltry 1.6 million?!

Absolutely OUTRAGEOUS! What better way to show the public throughout the U.S. that the courts NO LONGER act to protect them?! If anything demonstrates that, this case will!

Congratulations to all the miscreant lawyers and/or judges who took part in this murder of justice!

If I were Merck & Co., I''d pay up FAST, hope to get this one in the ''record books''---finalized, and hope no superior court intervenes.