Pfizer Must Pay $430 Million for Illegal Promotion of Neurontin

Pfizer Admits Fraud in Marketing of Neurontin

WASHINGTON, D.C. — May 28, 2004 — Warner–Lambert, a division of the major drug manufacturer, Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay $430 million for illegally promoting the drug Neurontin for unapproved uses (Department of Justice Release, May 13, 2004). Neurontin or gabapentin may be used to treat epilepsy along with other drugs, but the company was marketing it as a cure for bipolar disorder, attention deficit disorder, back pain, headaches, restless leg syndrome, and Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Warner–Lambert promoted Neurontin even when scientific studies had shown it was not effective,” the Department of Justice said. “For example, the company promoted Neurontin as effective for use as the sole drug (monotherapy) for epileptic seizures, even after solo use had been specifically rejected by the FDA. Similarly, the pharmaceutical company falsely promoted Neurontin as effective for treating bipolar disease, even when a scientific study demonstrated that a placebo worked as well or better than the drug.”

Once the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a drug, doctors may prescribe it for reasonable “off–label” use according to their own good judgment. However, drug manufacturers may not promote the drug for these purposes. Pfizer’s marketing tactics included paying doctors to attend meetings featuring expensive dinners and entertainment as well as biased information about Neurontin’s unapproved uses, according to the Department of Justice. The company also gave doctors tickets to sporting events and treated them to weekends in Florida and Hawaii for Neurontin conferences. It paid some doctors to allow sales representatives to accompany them when they saw patients. In addition, Pfizer often employed “medical liaisons” who falsely represented themselves as experts in certain diseases.

Pfizer received approval to begin selling Neurontin in 1993. Sales in the United States last year totaled $2.2 billion (Washington Post, May 14, 2004). A month’s prescription of Neurontin costs about $200, and about 90% of the prescriptions have been for unapproved uses.

At Brayton Purcell, we are concerned about the safety and proper usage of prescription medicines and over–the–counter drugs. See Injuries from Medical Drugs for an overview. If you have been injured by an unsafe drug or medical device, please feel free to contact us to learn about your legal options. We have been handling medical/legal cases for over 20 years and work aggressively to protect the legal rights of our clients.