Merck has become the latest health care company to strike a major settlement with the Justice Department, agreeing Tuesday to a $321.6 million criminal fine and a $628.3 million civil settlement to resolve claims over its marketing of the painkiller Vioxx.

McKesson has agreed to pay $82 million to resolve claims that it inflated average wholesale prices for its drugs, causing plaintiffs to pay outsized reimbursements under government health care programs.

Potentially capping more than a decade of litigation in Washington, the government has agreed to pay $680 million to a class of American Indian farmers and ranchers who alleged the Agriculture Department’s loan program was discriminatory. President Barack Obama praised the settlement and urged Congress to act on two proposed settlements in separate suits that would resolve claims among black farmers and a class of American Indians who are challenging the management of Indian trust accounts and resources.

Nearly $1 billion has been paid over the past decade to resolve claims against the New York Police Department, the nation’s largest. The total spending outstrips that of other U.S.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Thursday that Les Schwab Tire Centers, based in Seattle, has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that it failed to hire qualified women for tire-changing jobs at its stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Utah.