Pfizer Settles Wrongful Death Lawsuit For $400,000
Pfizer Inc. agreed to settle a a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed her husband's use of the antiseizure drug Neurontin caused him to commit suicide. The extra terms of the settlement are confidential which is not uncommon in a case like this. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed by Linda Shearer whose husband was prescribed Neurontin to help him with paralysis. The wrongful death lawsuit alleges Pfizer knew the drug, which wasn't approved by regulators, had a side effect of suicide but Pfizer did not let patients taking the drug know about this.
Recently a federal jury found against Pfizer and said it violated an antiracketeering law by promoting Neurontin for off-label uses, and awarded damages of $47 million, which are to be automatically tripled under the law. You can see that Pfizer is having problems with this drug and that may be one reason this case settled. Neurontin was previously one of Pfizer's best-selling drugs, generating $2.7 billion in sales in 2003 alone.
