PFIZER ORDERED TO PAY $41 MILLION FOR OFF LABEL MARKETING
A Boston jury last week ordered Pfizer Inc. to pay $47 million in damages in a lawsuit over its epilepsy drug Neurontin. The lawsuit claimed that the drug giant had marketed Neurontin for unapproved uses, which violates federal racketeering laws. While doctors are free to prescribe medicines as they see fit, drugmakers are only allowed to promote them for uses approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pfizer pleaded guilty to criminal charges of illegally marketing Neurotonin in 2004.