Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202&sid=aWOruWseqg0g
Pfizer Lawsuit Over Neurontin Is Dropped by Family
By Jef Feeley and Margaret Cronin Fisk
July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. won’t face a jury verdict over claims that its epilepsy medicine Neurontin helped cause a Massachusetts woman’s suicide after her family dropped their lawsuit in the midst of the trial.
The family of Susan Bulger agreed to dismissal of the suit after an anonymous donor offered to put money in a trust for the woman’s 10-year-old daughter, the family’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, said today. The trial began Monday and was scheduled to run three weeks in federal court in Boston.
“It was the best thing for the family,” said David Egilman, a Brown University medical school professor who serves as the Bulgers’ spokesman.
The family claimed New York-based Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, promoted Neurontin for unapproved uses and didn’t warn that it could increase the risk of suicide until forced to do so by the government. The trial was the first of about 1,200 Neurontin suits.
Pfizer fell 15 cents to $15.88 at 10:26 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange Composite trading.
The case is Bulger v. Pfizer Inc., 1:07-cv-11426, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts (Boston). The suit is part of In Re Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1629.