Drug Related Wrongful Death in Massachusetts

Linda Shearer of Massachusetts filed a wrongful death lawsuit, after her husband who had been taking Neurontin, an anti-seizure drug, committed suicide in 2002. Harley Shearer was prescribed the drug in order to control the effects of his paralysis. The suit alleged that Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company that produces the drug, promoted this use of the drug even though U.S. regulators hadn’t approved it, and that Pfizer knew the drug was associated with a risk of suicide, but failed to properly warn of the risk. A settlement of approximately $400,000 has been made for Mrs. Shearer.

Only two weeks before, a federal jury found that Pfizer violated an antiracketeering law by promoting Neurontin for off-label uses, and awarded damages of $47 million, which is to be automatically tripled under the law. In 2004, Pfizer pleaded guilty to a criminal charge and agreed to pay $430 million to settle government investigations of its promotion of Neurontin. Pfizer has also said that it faces a number of lawsuits alleging use of Neurontin caused suicide, attempted suicide and other personal injuries. Neurontin was previously one of Pfizer's best-selling drugs, generating $2.7 billion in sales in 2003.

For more information visit on the suit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304017404575165992338949212.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

For more information on this type of law suit:
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