Last week, there was a bit of closure for Merck on Vioxx. This week, a step closer to closure for Pfizer? A federal ruling yesterday may nullify a chunk of Celebrex lawsuits, giving the drug maker a badly needed legal victory. According to the ruling, plaintiffs haven't proven that the pain killer caused heart attacks or strokes when taken at 200 mg daily. That was the most common dosage, Pfizer says.
It's not clear, however, how many of the 3,000 Celebrex plaintiffs used that dose. One plaintiff's lawyer estimates about 900 of them were prescribed 200 mg, but some of them took more than that. Another attorney estimates that about a third of the cases will be eliminated by the ruling.
- read the article from the Wall Street Journal