Gardasil has been a top seller for Merck, earning total global sales of $1.2 billion in 2011,163 a windfall for the company floundering to recover from a $7 billion court settlement related to criminal charges that the company had knowingly killed between 100,000 and 500,000 Americans by defrauding customers about the safety of its blockbuster pain pill, Vioxx.164
