Fri Feb 7, 2014 11:53am EST
(Reuters) - Merck & Co said on Friday it will
pay $100 million to resolve all U.S. product liability lawsuits alleging it
downplayed serious health risks involving its NuvaRing intrauterine
contraceptive device.
The product, which contains the hormones estrogen
and progestin commonly found in birth control bills, is associated with an
increased risk of developing blood clots that can cause heart attacks, strokes
or sudden deaths. Available to women in the United States since 2001, NuvaRing
is one of several contraceptive products linked to this higher risk.
Merck, the second-biggest U.S. drugmaker, denied
any fault under the agreement, which must be accepted by 95 percent of about
3,800 eligible patients involved in lawsuits pending in federal and state courts.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Roger Denton of
Schlichter, Bogard and Denton, said the settlement, reached after nearly a year
of negotiations, is "an outstanding result and in the best interests of
all the women who have suffered an injury associated with the use of
Nuvaring."
Under the settlement, Merck would pay a fraction
of what at least one company has paid in a similar settlement.
German drugmaker Bayer AG said last year it had
paid nearly $1.6 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits involving accusations
that its Yaz and Yazmin birth control pills caused blood clots that led to
strokes and heart attacks.
Merck shares were up 1 percent at $54.32 on the
New York Stock Exchange, in line with a 1.2-percent advance in the ARCA
Pharmaceutical Index of large U.S. and European drugmakers.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Additional
reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bernadette Baum)
meredithd wrote:
The article states “NuvaRing intrauterine contraceptive device”.
NuvaRing is an intravaginal contraceptive device, not an intrauterine device.
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