Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) on Tuesday said it has reached a $486 million settlement of litigation accusing it of causing big losses for shareholders by concealing safety risks associated with its Celebrex and Bextra pain-relieving drugs.
It is costing Pfizer nearly half a billion dollars to settle a decade-old shareholder lawsuit tied to two controversial pain drugs, Bextra, which it no longer makes, and Celebrex, sales of which have been dropping as generics eat away its market share.
Pfizer’s Bextra has not been on the market in more than a decade, but the litigation tied to it and pain drug Celebrex continues to play out. The New York drugmaker has now put to rest a long-running class action by Pfizer shareholders who said a controversy over the drugs’ safety whacked the stock price and cost them a lot of money.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a class-action lawsuit accusing Pfizer Inc of causing tens of billions of dollars of losses for shareholders by misleading them about the safety of its Celebrex and Bextra pain-relieving drugs.
Pfizer to Pay $400 Million to Avert Investor Class Action Trial