LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The State of New Mexico has retained the national law firm of Baron & Budd to prosecute a consumer protection lawsuit against the makers of the blood thinner Plavix. The State is alleging that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Adventis U.S. LLC engaged in false, deceptive and unfair labeling and promotion of their prescription antiplatelet drug Plavix. The case is being heard in the First Judicial District State Court, County of Santa Fe. (In Re: Case No. D-101-CV-2016-02176)
The consumer protection lawsuit generally alleges that Defendants engaged in a false, deceptive and unfair marketing strategy touting the benefits of Plavix, when, since at least March 1998, Defendants knew or should have known that Plavix has diminished or no effect on a substantial and significant percentage of the population, and that those patients for whom Plavix would not work could be identified through a simple genetic test. Baron & Budd also currently represents the State of Hawaii in a similar consumer protection action.
The State of New Mexico also alleges that Defendants have misleadingly sought to replace aspirin with Plavix, which costs one hundred times more than aspirin, for treatment of patients at risk of ischemic events, and that Defendants ignored, concealed, and minimized clinical trial data and other information showing that Plavix is only as effective as—or in some cases even less effective than—aspirin in treating such patients, and that Plavix has a higher chance of causing gastrointestinal bleeding and other complications.
“We are extremely proud of the fact that the State of New Mexico has chosen our firm to prosecute this consumer protection action,” said Baron & Budd shareholder Dan Alberstone, co-manager of the firm’s Los Angeles office. “We believe that pharmaceutical companies like the Defendants have a legal, moral and ethical obligation to ensure that consumers of their drug products are provided all of the necessary information to make an informed decision whether the drug that is prescribed for their use is safe and effective. This lawsuit alleges that Defendants have woefully failed to meet that obligation.”
ABOUT BARON & BUDD, P.C.
The law firm of Baron & Budd, P.C., with offices in Dallas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Austin and Los Angeles, is a nationally recognized law firm with a nearly 40-year history of "Protecting What's Right" for people, communities and businesses harmed by negligence. Baron & Budd's size and resources enable the firm to take on large and complex cases. The firm represents individuals and government and business entities in areas as diverse as dangerous pharmaceuticals and medical devices, environmental contamination, the Gulf oil spill, financial fraud, overtime violations, deceptive advertising, automotive defects, trucking accidents, nursing home abuse, and asbestos-related illnesses such as mesothelioma.
