New York will receive $61 million from a national settlement with Merck & Co. This will resolve an investigation into the marketing of the painkiller Vioxx. A federal court has accepted Merck’s guilty plea to one misdemeanor count of violating marketing laws. Merck marketed Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis without federal approval for almost three years and, according to the Justice Department, made false statements about its cardiovascular safety. As we know all too well, Vioxx was taken off the market in September 2004 after evidence showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Source: Insurance Journal