Pfizer Suit On Neurontin Is Dropped By Suicide Victims Family
Susan Bulgers family agreed to dismiss the suit after an anonymous donor offered to put money in a trust for her 10-year- old daughter, Regina, said Mark Lanier, the familys lawyer. The trial began July 27 and was scheduled to run three weeks in federal court in Boston.
The suit was the first of about 1,200 involving Neurontin. The family claimed Pfizer, the worlds largest drug company, promoted the medication for unapproved uses and didnt warn it could increase the risk of suicide until forced to do so by the government. Pfizer said Bulger had a history of drug abuse and had made six suicide attempts before taking her life in 2004.
“We are pleased to have been vindicated in this case,” Jeffrey Kindler, chief executive officer of New York-based Pfizer, said in a phone interview on Bloomberg Television today. Neurontin has been “prescribed to treat millions of patients safely and effectively for many, many years and its been widely studied for more than two decades,” he said.
The next Neurontin trial is set to start March 29 in Boston federal court, while another case in Tennessee may be tried earlier, Lanier said. The lawsuits claim Pfizer should have warned patients and doctors that Neurontin can increase suicidal thoughts.
Outrageous
Kindlers comments are “outrageous,” Lanier said. “All Pfizer got today was a six-month stay of execution. We have 1,200 more of these cases to go.”
The anonymous donor was a plaintiffs lawyer who wasnt involved in the case, said Lanier, a friend of the donors. “It was the best thing for the family,” said David Egilman, a Brown University medical school professor who serves as the Bulgers spokesman.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December required all makers of epilepsy drugs, including Neurontin, to add a suicide-risk warning to their labels. Pfizer contends there is no link to Neurontin use and suicide.
The company hasnt paid anything in exchange for dismissal of the suit, Amy W. Schulman, the drugmakers general counsel, said in an e-mailed statement. Pfizer “continues to believe that there is no scientifically reliable evidence that Neurontin causes suicidal behavior,” she said.
Very Difficult Case
The Bulgers lawsuit was “a very tough case” for the plaintiffs because of her “personal history,” U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris in Boston said in a July 20 pretrial hearing.
The family claimed Pfizers marketing of Neurontin for unapproved, or off-label, uses played a role in her doctors prescribing the drug. Bulger took the drug, approved to treat epilepsy, for mood swings and arthritis pain.
Warner-Lambert paid $430 million in 2004 to resolve off- label marketing allegations involving Neurontin by the U.S. Justice Department. Pfizer said the settlement involved actions before the company bought Warner-Lambert and Bulgers doctors didnt prescribe the drug because of off-label marketing.
Pain Reliever
Her doctors prescribed Neurontin because it has been shown to help with pain, isnt addictive and has few side effects, Pfizer lawyer William Ohlemeyer said at trial.
The prescriptions were “based on the doctors background and experience and not what Pfizer or Warner-Lambert told them,” he said.
Pfizer fell 28 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $15.75 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has declined 11 percent in 2009, after falling for two years.
The case is Bulger v. Pfizer Inc., 1:07-cv-11426, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston). The suit is part of In Re Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1629.