Pfizer Settles Oxbryta Lawsuit Over Child’s Vaso-Occlusive Crises (VOCs) Linked To Recalled Drug

Agreement marks at least the second Oxbryta lawsuit settlement disclosed by Pfizer since the sickle cell disease drug was recalled in 2024.

Another Oxbryta lawsuit has been settled by Pfizer, who indicated in a court filing that it has agreed to resolve claims involving a teenage boy who developed vaso-occulive crises (VOCs) after receiving the recalled sickle cell disease drug.

The original Oxbryta lawsit was filed in early October 2026, pursuing claims against Pfizer Inc. and its Global Blood Therapeutics Inc. unit, on behalf of a 13-year-old boy identified only as Z.C., by a parent identified only as W.W.

The lawsuit alleged Oxbryta side effects left the boy with severe and permanent injuries, after it increased the risk of VOCs that the drug was supposed to prevent.

Oxbryta Health Concerns

First approved in 2019, Oxbryta (voxelotor) was designed to address the root causes of sickle cell disease by helping blood cells retain more oxygen and preventing VOCs, which occur when red blood cells block blood flow. VOCs can cause an inflammatory response that results in symptoms like pain in the chest, back and limbs, as well as fever. They can cause kidney failure, stroke and even death.

However, reports submitted by doctors and patients later raised concerns that Oxbryta may increase the risk of VOCs, rather than prevent them. The FDA and the manufacturers identified a higher number of VOC reports than expected, leading to an Oxbryta recall in September 2024, after the manufacturer concluded that the drug’s risks appeared to outweigh its benefits, including reports of serious and fatal events. 

Z.C.’s complaint was one of a number of Oxbryta VOC lawsuits filed by users of the sickle cell disease drug, which it appears the manufacturers are working to resolve without the need for long and expensive trials that could end in blockbuster verdicts.

Oxbryta Lawsuit Settlement Agreement

According to a status report (PDF) issued in late May, the parent of the teenage boy and Pfizer have reached an out-of-court agreement to settle the Oxbryta claim, indicating that the lawsuit will be dismissed once the settlement is finalized. The parties said they will update the court once they have a timeline for completing the resolution process.

The complaint was filed on behalf of Z.C., who was 13 years old and identified only by his initials in court filings. According to the lawsuit, Z.C. participated in an Oxbryta safety study in 2021, then continued using the medication after it became available on the market.

The lawsuit alleged that Z.C. suffered a high number of vaso-occlusive crises after using Oxbryta. The complaint indicates he was placed in critical care and the intensive care unit on several occasions, nearly died multiple times and required oxycodone and morphine to manage severe pain caused by the VOC incidents.

The agreement marks at least the second Oxbryta lawsuit settlement disclosed in recent months. The first involved claims brought by Dana Ford, whose case had been scheduled to go to trial in September 2027.

Ford filed one of the first Oxbryta lawsuits in May 2025, alleging that Pfizer and Global Blood Therapeutics sold and promoted a defective medication that caused the death of her husband, Bruce Ford. According to that complaint, Ford began taking Oxbryta in September 2022 and died in May 2024 after suffering a VOC and stroke. Terms of that settlement also have not been publicly disclosed.

Oxbryta Lawsuits

The settlement agreement is believed to be restricted to the Z.C. lawsuit, but the manufacturers have been working with plaintiffs since last year to hammer out a global Oxbryta settlement. It is unclear how close they are to a final deal.

In the meantime, Oxbryta lawyers continue to investigate potential lawsuits for individuals who were prescribed the drug for the treatment of sickle cell disease and developed any of the following side effects, injuries or severe complications:

• Vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs)
• Stroke
• Severe pain and swelling
• Death

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