>Bextra
Date Filed: April 7, 2005
Court: U.S. District Court
Location: California
Ticker Symbol: PFE

Hagens Berman filed a class-action lawsuit against Pfizer on behalf of individual consumers and third-party payors who paid for the drug Bextra.

Bextra - which has been taken off the market due to side-effect concerns - was used to reduce pain, inflammation, and stiffness caused by osteoarthritis and adult rheumatoid arthritis.

The suit claims that through deceitful marketing, advertising, and promotion of Bextra as a superior product to other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - which are much less expensive - Pfizer mislead consumers and physicians into using and prescribing it over the competition.

The complaint also states that the goal of Pfizer's marketing efforts was to convince medical professionals of Bextra's superiority in order to pressure insurance companies and hospitals to include Bextra on their formulary lists, thus ensuring the drug's success.

If you paid for or paid a co-pay for Bextra you may be eligible to be part of this suit.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Sept. 25, 2009 - Today the court issued a final ruling in the Bextra litigation, approving an $89 million settlement with Pfizer settling claims the company launched a misleading marketing campaign for its drugs Bextra and Celebrex.

In the 10-page ruling, the judge certified three separate subclasses affected by the settlement:

  1. All consumers in the U.S. who purchased or paid for Bextra or both Bextra and Celebrex prescriptions,
  2. Anyone in the U.S. who purchased Celebrex prior to July 29, 2005, and
  3. All third party payors who paid for both Bextra and Celebrex will receive compensation based on Bextra purchases only.