Attorney general files judgment against Pfizer

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 10:26 a.m.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto today filed a stipulated judgment with Pfizer Inc., which resolves a five-year investigation by 33 states concerning the company's promotion of two drugs.

Pfizer will pay $60 million to the participating states. Nevada's share will be $720,126.

The judgment filed in Clark County District Court restricts Pfizer from deceptively promoting its products.

The multiple state investigation, started in 2003, discovered that Pfizer and another drug company, Pharmacia, had misrepresented their jointly sold drug Celebrex as safer and more effective than such drugs as Ibuprofen, sold as Advil, and naproxen, sold as Aleve.

Later in the investigation, second generation Bextra was also discovered to have been promoted for uses that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration. While a physician is allowed to prescribe drugs for off-label uses, the law prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers from marketing their products for off-label uses.

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