Pharmaceutical companies often complain that they spend billions of dollars researching new drugs that never make it to market, but Pfizer this week broke a new record for the billions spent on settlements linked to promotion of a drug that had already been launched.

In a tiny reference in the company’s fourth-quarter results issued on Monday – swamped by the news of its $68bn takeover of Wyeth – it said it had reached a $2.3bn agreement in principle” with the US Attorney’s office to resolve a series of investigations “regarding allegations of off-label promotional practices concerning Bextra”.