by KYW's Tony Romeo

Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 27 other states and the District of Columbia have reached a $58 million settlement with Merck over allegations that the company used deceptive practices to market the drug Vioxx.

It’s being called the largest-ever settlement for a multi-state consumer protection drug case. 
  
The allegation is that in 1999, Merck launched an aggressive and deceptive marketing campaign which misrepresented the safety of, and concealed the risks associated with, the pain reliever Vioxx.

Eric Shirk, spokesman for Pennsylvania attorney general Tom Corbett, says “ghostwriting” was one of the tactics used:

“Ghostwriting involves when someone writes an article and it appears to be published by an independent doctor organization but, allegedly, these articles were written by people who worked for, or had some interest in, Merck.”

In addition to the financial settlement, of which Pennsylvania will get $2.9 million, Merck has agreed to follow marketing rules, which include no ghostwriting, and submitting all television advertising for FDA review.