Neurontin Lawsuit Verdict of $142M Upheld By Appeals Court

A federal appeals court has upheld a $142 million jury verdict in a case involving Pfizer’s epilepsy drug Neurontin, and opened the door for potentially even more lawsuits. 

On April 3, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston issued an opinion that rejects an attempt by Pfizer to overturn a verdict obtained by Kaiser Foundation, which sued the drug maker for illegally promoting Neurontin for the treatment of migraines, bipolar disorder and other conditions not approved by the FDA.

In March 2012, a jury awarded $47.36 million in damages, but U.S. District Judge Patti Saris tripled the award to $142 million under provisions governing U.S. racketeering laws.

Judge Saris upheld the decision in January, when Pfizer first appealed. However, she rejected efforts by the plaintiff to have interest added to the amount. She also blocked efforts by third-party payers, like health insurers and unions, to enter into a Neurontin off-label marketing class action lawsuit.

Pfizer challenged the decision before the U.S Court of Appeals, which upheld the jury verdict and Judge Saris’s decision to triple the amount under the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, but reversed her ruling preventing a third-party class action lawsuit, giving those cases the green light to go forward. The panel of judges also rejected a call by Pfizer for a new trial.

“Pfizer fraudulently marketed to physicians with the intent that those physicians would write prescriptions paid for by Kaiser,” the court determined. “The fraudulent scheme worked as intended, inducing a huge increase in Neurontin prescriptions for off-label uses.”

Hundreds of Neurontin Suicide Lawsuits Filed

The case is just one of about 1,200 Neurontin lawsuits that Pfizer is facing. Most of the complaints have been brought by individual plaintiffs, who allege that Neurontin side effects increase the risk of suicide.

In 2008, the FDA required Neurontin and similar epilepsy drugs to begin carrying label warnings alerting users to the risk of suicidal thoughts. All of the federal lawsuits have been consolidated before Judge Saris as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Neurontin (gabapentin) is an epilepsy medication approved by the FDA in 1983, which generated $387 million in sales for Pfizer in 2008.

While doctors are free to prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the FDA, manufacturers are prohibited from marketing the drugs for such uses that they have not established are safe and effective.

In 2004, Parke-Davis, a division of Warner-Lambert that was acquired by Pfizer, paid $430 million to the U.S. Justice Department over claims that they were illegally promoting Neurontin for off-label uses, including control of mood swings.

In 2009, Pfizer paid the Justice Department $2.3 billion to settle a number of off-label marketing claims which included its marketing of Neurontin.