Merck to offer 100 million settlement in NuvaRing lawsuits

(HealthDay)—Merck will pay $100 million to settle thousands of lawsuits over the company's NuvaRing birth control device, according to insiders.

The settlement will be announced Friday and provide an average payout of more than $58,000 per case, two people familiar with the deal told Bloomberg News. They did not want to be identified because they hadn't been authorized to talk publicly about the accord.

The deal will resolve several thousand cases in federal and state courts in Missouri and New Jersey. Women accused Merck of selling NuvaRing even though the company knew that the device put them at higher risk for blood clots than products from other companies.

A Merck spokeswoman declined to comment on the settlement, Bloomberg reported.