Merck to pay $58m in settlement over rofecoxib advertising

doi:10.1136/bmj.39591.705231.DB

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Fred Charatan

¹Florida

Merck & Company has agreed to pay $58m (£29m; €37m) to settle allegations that advertising for its analgesic rofecoxib (Vioxx) played down potential health risks.

The civil settlement ends investigations by 29 US states and the District of Columbia into Merck’s previous advertising practices for the drug. Tom Corbett, attorney general of Pennsylvania, said that the agreement is the largest in a multi-state consumer protection case involving drugs.

Mr Corbett said that in 1999 Merck had launched “an aggressive and deceptive advertising …