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Merck To Pay $58 Million Settlement For Vioxx Ads

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The Associated Press

Published: May 21, 2008

HARRISBURG, Pa. - 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 Florida, 28 other states and the District of Columbia into Merck's advertising practices involving Vioxx, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said.

Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 after research showed that 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," he said.

An FDA spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a 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.

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

"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.

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