US: Pfizer Settles Suits over Anti-smoking Drug for $273 mln

Source from:  Thomson Reuters  03/06/2013

Pfizer Inc has agreed to settle the majority of lawsuits alleging its smoking cessation drug, Chantix, caused suicide and other injuries, the company said in its annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The United States' largest drugmaker has entered into agreements to settle around 80 percent of the more than 2,700 lawsuits over Chantix, costing the company around $273 million in 2012, according to the report filed on Feb. 28. Pfizer also said it has set aside $15 million to resolve all of the remaining claims in the United States.

Pfizer introduced Chantix in the United States in 2006, hoping it would become a multibillion-dollar product and revive flagging profits. But starting in 2008, consumers inundated the company with lawsuits claiming that Pfizer knew about psychological side effects related to the drug but failed to inform doctors and patients.

By 2009, the Food and Drug Administration had required a so-called black-box label on the drug warning of the risk of suicidal thoughts, depression and other behavior changes. That same year, federal lawsuits filed across the country were consolidated in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

Pfizer said in its SEC filing that it began advanced settlement discussions in November with several law firms that represent the plaintiffs in the majority of the lawsuits.

The SEC report comes on the heels of settlements the company reached in a pair of bellwether cases that recently were set to go to trial. In October Pfizer reached a settlement with the widow of Mark Alan Whitely, who killed himself after taking the anti-smoking drug. In January the company settled claims with Billy Bedsole, who said the drug caused him to have suicidal thoughts and other problems.

"The resolution of these cases reflects a desire by the Company to focus on the needs of patients and prescribers, and return the conversation to how Chantix can help smokers quit," Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder said in a statement. Many of the agreements still have to be finalized, he said.

Ernest Cory, one of the lead plaintiffs' lawyers, said in a statement that he had reached a private resolution with Pfizer on behalf of 254 clients in 28 states. Cory said he would continue to serve as lead counsel until all of the remaining plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation resolved their claims.

In setting aside $15 million, Pfizer noted in the report that its future losses may exceed that amount. The alleged injuries vary widely from completed suicide to attempted suicide requiring hospitalization to worsened depression and anxiety, the company said. The discovery process has not yet begun for most of the unresolved cases, the report said.

Chantix has been approved for use in more than 100 countries and has been prescribed to 18 million patients, including 9 million in the United States, according to Pfizer.

The multidistrict litigation is In re Chantix (Varenicline) Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama, No. 09-2039. Enditem