FREE HEALTH INSURANCE QUOTES Start here...

Select Insurance Type:

Individual Health Group Health Small Business Health Short Term Health Family Health Medicare Supplemental Travel Insurance

Zip code:

Merck paid big this week, in an effort to end lawsuits that could have cost them billions, and revealed their manipulation of patients, doctors, and even the health insurance market.

Well, they paid billions anyway - $4.85 billion to be exact - in order to end lawsuits pertaining to allegations that they downplayed cardiovascular risks caused by the popular drug Vioxx in direct-to-consumer advertisements dating back to 1999.

Consumers shelled-out billions of dollars for the designer drug Vioxx, though safer alternatives were covered by almost all health insurance policies in the form of generics.

According to Kaiser's Daily Report, Merck is also required to end their policy of ghostwriting studies related to their drugs, and then passing them off as having been written by doctors.

Which was one more way that consumers were convinced to purchase these drugs, even when they weren't really that safe, and their health insurance didn't cover it.

Last year, as more and more consumers leaned towards generic drugs, prescription drug companies lost a lot of revenue. But, when so many health insurance policies cover generics, which have been around a long time and aren't likely to have any unknown effects, it just makes sense to save money and avoid the kind of dangerous side effects associated with new and controversial medications.