Pfizer has agreed to pay $400 million to avoid a trial in a class action lawsuit accusing the drugmaker of misleading investors in connection with off-label marketing.
Filed in 2010, the lawsuit (which had be set to go to trial this February) accused Pfizer and executives of making false statements to shareholders about off-label marketing of products, including Bextra and other drugs.
Back in 2009, Pfizer had previously plead guilty in a case involving executives admitting to instructing more than 100 salespeople to promote Bextra, a drug approved only for the relief of arthritis and menstrual discomfort, for treatment of acute pains of all kinds.
Despite the most recent settlement, Pfizer continues to deny wrongdoing and believes its disclosures to investors "were appropriate and prepared in good faith."
Read the Reuters article