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Merck to pay Arkansas $1.38 million in drug settlement Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas is to receive $1.38 million as its share of a $58 million settlement announced Tuesday with pharmaceutical company Merck over the marketing of the Vioxx, an arithritis drug and pain-killer. New Jersey-based Merck agreed to pay Arkansas and 29 other states to settle civil lawsuits alleging deceptive advertising practices and marketing of Vioxx, Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said. Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 after research showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Tuesday's settlement, which ended a three-year investigation by the 30 states, requires Merck to submit all new TV commercials for its drugs to the federal Food and Drug Administration for review and follow through with any changes the agency recommends before airing them for seven years. "Merck's aggressive early (direct to consumer) promotion of Vioxx drove many consumers to seek prescriptions before Vioxx's risks were fully understood," McDaniel said in a news release. "This action gives the FDA clear discretion and authority to make just such an assessment on all new Merck pain drugs and requires Merck to submit television ads to the FDA for suggested revisions and acceptance of the final product before running the ads." Arkansas' share of the settlement will go into the attorney general's Consumer Education and Enforcement Fund, McDaniel's office said. Other business practices restricted by the settlement include the ghost writing of scientific material and the deceptive use of scientific data when marketing to doctors. Merck also must adequately disclose any conflicts of interests its promotional speakers have when they make presentations at supposedly "independent" continuing medical education seminars, and when its data safety monitoring boards purport to provide oversight and monitoring of clinical trials. Merck did not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. In a statement Tuesday on the company's Web site, Bruce Kuhlik, Merck executive vice president and general counsel, said the company remains committed to helping patients and their doctors choose medicines based on accurate, fair and balanced information. The settlement "enables Merck to put this matter behind us and focus on what Merck does best, developing new medicines," Kuhlik said. |
