Montgomery, AL – Attorney General Troy King said today Alabama will receive nearly three million dollars as part of two separate global settlements with Merck & Co.
The drug maker will pay 671 million dollars to settle claims that it overcharged the government and improperly marketed drugs to doctors.
King said the money Alabama receives will go into the state's Medicaid program, which benefits the state's poorest citizens.
The case involves Merck's two biggest drugs -- the painkiller Vioxx and the cholesterol drug Zocor. Prosecutors say Merck hid deep discounts that it gave to hospitals and reported higher prices to the government, effectively charging the Medicaid program more for the drugs.
Prosecutors also say Merck gave money and perks to doctors and other health-care professionals to entice them to prescribe the drugs.
Merck says the settlement doesn't mean that it's admitting any liability or wrongdoing. The drug maker says it believes its pricing, sales and marketing policies complied with all regulations.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)