Merck to pay $650 million to settle Medicare suits
By Val Brickates Kennedy, MarketWatch
Last update: 1:04 p.m. EST Feb. 7, 2008
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $650 million to settle two long-standing lawsuits involving whistleblowers over Medicare pricing practices and related marketing activities, the drugmaker said Thursday.
According to a Justice Department statement, Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck (MRK: 45.68, -0.03, -0.1%) has agreed to pay $250 million, plus interest, to settle a case pending in a federal court in Louisiana.
That case alleged Merck didn't properly inform Medicare that it had offered substantial discounts to hospitals for its drug Pepcid from 1996 through 2001.
The drugmaker has also agreed to pay $399 million, plus interest, for a case brought in federal court in Pennsylvania. It alleged that Merck failed to properly inform Medicare about deep discounts offered to hospitals, from 1998 through 2006, for its drugs Vioxx and Zocor.
In addition, the case accused Merck of having offered kickbacks to medical professionals in order to boost sales, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department added that pharmaceutical companies are expected to report their lowest prices to Medicare in order to ensure the program doesn't overpay for drugs.
In December, Merck said that it had taken a fourth-quarter 2007 charge of $670 million in anticipation of the settlements.
Shares of the drugmaker, part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, were flat at $45.71 in midday trading.
Under the settlement, $360 million will go to the federal government, with $290 million for 49 states and the District of Columbia. The states and federal government will in turn share the awards with the two whistleblowers.
As a result of the settlement, Merck has also entered into a five-year corporate-integrity agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that overseas the Medicare program.
The Justice Department said the integrity agreement is "to ensure that such improper conduct does not occur in the future."
In a statement, the company said the settlements "did not constitute an admission by Merck of any liability or wrongdoing."
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