The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that Merck, the drug company that manufactures Vioxx, will have to pay $950 million related to illegal marketing of the drug. Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004, after studies proved an increased risk of strokes and heart attacks related to its use.

Among other things, Merck pleaded guilty to the charge of marketing the blockbuster painkiller to treat rheumatoid arthritis without approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The multi-million-dollar fine will be split between civil settlements and criminal fines. More than $320 million will be paid in criminal fines for marketing the drug without proper permission from the FDA, and $628.4 million will go to patients or family members who suffered serious side effects or who died after taking Vioxx.

Marketed as a painkiller in 1999, Vioxx was never an approved treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, but Merck continued to market it as an arthritis treatment for three years, even after receiving a warning letter from the U.S. Justice Department in 2001. Merck officials stated that the settlement of the civil suits in no way was an admission of guilt or wrongdoing on its part.

Merck also agreed to more oversight of its production and sales, and to post any payments made to physicians on the company's website. Vioxx was initially one of three cox-2 inhibitor painkillers that included Celebrex and Bextra. With no gastrointestinal side effects that other painkillers cause, they were widely prescribed. Although Celebrex continues to be available, Bextra has also been pulled from production.

Source: US News & World Report, "Merck to pay $950M to settle probe of Vioxx marketing" Nov. 22, 2011