NewsPfizer sued over Lipitor marketing
03/28/06 - newratings.com
NEW YORK, March 28 (newratings.com) – Several labour unions are filing federal suits against Pfizer Inc (PFE), accusing the company of fraud and racketeering in marketing its cholesterol drug, Lipitor.
The Welfare Fund of Teamsters Local Union 863 filed its suit against Pfizer in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey late on Monday. The lawyers for the plaintiffs said that several other employee health care funds in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Indiana are expected to file similar suits on Tuesday. The plaintiffs accused Pfizer of improper off-label promotion of Lipitor, which led to them and other third-party payers and state Medicaid plans paying billons of dollars in unwarranted prescriptions over the past five years for the cholesterol-lowering medication. Pfizer's shares fell $0.29 or 1.12% to $25.52 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.