BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Greene LLP, a Boston complex civil litigation law firm specializing in suits brought by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, announces the $14.5 million settlement of a lawsuit alleging improper marketing of the prescription drugs Detrol and Detrol LA by defendant Pfizer, Inc. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of the United States by two former employees of Pfizer under the False Claims Act, which permits individuals with knowledge of fraud against the federal government to sue on its behalf. Relators David Wetherholt and Marci Drimer will receive 27% of the federal government’s portion of the settlement.
Detrol and Detrol LA are prescription drugs approved for the treatment of “over active bladder with symptoms of urge incontinence, urgency and frequency.” The lawsuit alleged that Pfizer improperly marketed the drug to men who were suffering from the signs and symptoms of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), commonly referred to as an enlarged prostate, even though Detrol treats detrusor muscle overactivity and the drug does not have any therapeutic effect on males whose symptoms are caused by BPH.
The Detrol suit marks the third time that Greene LLP attorneys have successfully resolved claims against Pfizer that the company illegally or fraudulently caused off-label prescriptions of its drugs, following two cases involving Neurontin, a drug approved to treat epilepsy: a $142 million RICO verdict in 2010, and a 2004 False Claims Act settlement of $430 million in criminal penalties and civil fines, the first successfully resolved False Claims Act case brought under a theory of improper off-label marketing. Both the Neurontin and Detrol cases were settled without government intervention.
The relators were represented by Thomas M. Greene, Michael Tabb and Ilyas J. Rona of Greene LLP. The firm would like to recognize the contributions of Robert Patten of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and Zachary A. Cunha of the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
The case is United States ex rel. Wetherholt and Drimer v. Pfizer Inc., CV-06-10204, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The complaint may be accessed online at www.greenellp.com/Detrol-Amended-Complaint.pdf , and an extended version of this release is available at www.greenellp.com/press-releases/detrol-settlement.