SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. will pay $160,000 and tighten consumer privacy protections to settle charges it sent out e-mail addresses for hundreds of subscribers to its prozac.com online alert system, California's attorney general said on Thursday.

"A company that collects personal data online with assurances of privacy should take its obligation seriously," Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in announcing the deal to settle an investigation mounted by several states.

Lockyer said Lilly released the e-mail addresses of approximately 670 subscribers to its prozac.com service when it sent out a mass e-mailing to all subscribers last year with a complete list of recipients' e-mail addresses at the top.

Lilly, which had promised to maintain the confidentiality of consumer information, blamed the mailing on a programming error, Lockyer said.

Under the settlement agreement, Lilly will strengthen its internal standards for privacy protection and institute automated checks on software that accesses consumer information databases.

The company will also build on similar obligations imposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this year, and agreed to pay the states--California, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Vermont--$160,000 to settle the case, Lockyer said.

Lilly issued a statement expressing its regret over what it described as a mistake by an employee.

"While we are disappointed that the FTC/states felt this one-time, inadvertent human error warranted a consent decree, we respect the commission's view on this matter. Lilly is committed to working with them to implement the decree," the company said.