On October 23, 2008, Pfizer announced that it had reached a $60 million settlement with regulators from 33 states and the District of Columbia regarding allegations that it promoted painkillers Celebrex and Bextra for “off-label” uses not approved by the United States Food & Drug Administration. This accord is reportedly part of a larger $894 million settlement that Pfizer disclosed last week that also brings to an end several consumer class actions seeking reimbursement for money spent on the two drugs ($745 million) and personal injury cases alleging that the drugs caused heart attacks and strokes ($89 million).
In addition to the monetary payment, Pfizer also agreed to refrain from the following marketing activities in the future: providing incentives to sales staff to promote off-label drug use; compensating doctors for spending time with Pfizer sales representatives, using grant money to promote use of Pfizer’s drugs, “ghost writing” articles and studies for named authors not employed by the company and giving doctors free drug samples. The settlement also requires Pfizer to disclose any FDA drug use denials and the reasons for the denials in any communication about a non-approved drug use.
