Pfizer to pay $142.1 million over off-label marketing of Neurontin

31 January 2011

Global drugs behemoth Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) has been ordered to pay a total of $142.1 million in damages for violating federal laws in the off-label marketing of its epilepsy drug Neurontin (gabapentin), reports Bloomberg. The company plans to appeal the verdict, said the news service.

The case came as a result of the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals contending - in a month long trial last year - that Pfizer illegally promoted Neurontin for unapproved uses (The Pharma Letter March 26, 2010).

Judge Patti Saris of US District Court in Boston upheld last year’s jury finding that the Kaiser Foundation and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals deserved the award over their claims that Pfizer illegally promoted Neurontin for unapproved uses.

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