HEALTH

Merck Unit Settles Consumer Fraud Charges: Medco, a division of drug maker Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, N.J., agreed with 17 states to “substantially reform” the way it promotes drugs, Minnesota Atty. Gen. Hubert H. Humphrey III said. Medco admitted no wrongdoing in settling the civil case. It will also pay $1.9 million to cover the investigation’s cost. California is among the states involved. Medco is a pharmacy benefits manager, a company hired by employers, health maintenance organizations and insurers to find the most cost-effective drugs and to negotiate discounts with their makers. The states charged that pharmacists employed by Medco routinely phoned doctors to persuade them to switch patients to Merck drugs without explaining Medco’s link to Merck. That means that some patients could be using Merck drugs when others would cost less and be just as good, the charges said.