The unions claim that “Lipitor achieved its blockbuster clout in part through an ongoing fraudulent scheme that marketed the drug for off-label uses that are not approved by the Food & Drug Administration”.
This marketing practice, the plaintiffs say, led third-party drug plans and state Medicaid plans to pay for inappropriate prescriptions of the drug. Pfizer is reported to have dismissed the claims as “meritless.”
The Welfare Fund of Teamsters Local Union 863 filed the suit in New Jersey federal court, with other plaintiff drug plans expected to join the class action in due course.
The drug plans allege that Lipitor’s dramatic spike in sales – from $5 billion in 2000 to $12.1 billion in 2005 – reflects Pfizer’s aggressive off-label promotion of the drug during that period.