The U.S. Department of Justice has begun investigating the conduct of Merck and Schering-Plough in the marketing of the cholesterol drug Vytorin, according to a regulatory filing.
Lawsuits against the companies related to Vytorin marketing also are piling up, Merck said in a filing late Monday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Justice Department's Civil Division notified Merck in a Sept. 10 letter that the agency was investigating whether the drugmakers' promotion of Vytorin resulted in false claims to federal health-care programs, Merck noted. If so, federal health programs could seek to recover money they have spent on the drug.
Thirty-five state attorneys general are jointly investigating whether the partners violated state consumer-protection laws in marketing Vytorin, Merck said.
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