SEATTLE – Hagens Berman today announced it reached an $89 million settlement with Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) on behalf of purchasers of Celebrex and Bextra in a suit claiming the pharmaceutical giant launched misleading marketing campaigns for its drugs.

The suit claimed Pfizer misled physicians and consumers when it touted Bextra as a superior product to other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) when the drug had no appreciable difference than less expensive medications. Hagens Berman also filed suit on behalf of consumers who purchased the drug Celebrex, claiming Pfizer failed to disclose serious risks of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems associated with the drug.

The settlement is part of a larger $894 settlement that includes a bevy of personal injury, consumer fraud and state attorney general claims against Pfizer.

"This is a victory for purchasers, including third-party payers and consumers across the country, who will receive monetary relief from the settlement," said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman. "It is also an example of the critical role private litigation plays in holding pharmaceutical companies accountable in an era when the FDA can't or won't act as a watchdog."

The lawsuits allege Pfizer used dubious tactics to undermine the FDA approval process of both drugs.

From 1999 through 2003, Pfizer spent more than $400 million on direct-to-consumer advertising for Celebrex, creating $2.29 billion of revenue and accounting for six percent of the company's total sales. Bextra, originally approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and primary dysmenorrheal in women, helped increase Pfizer sales to $139 million in the third quarter of 2002 with its off-label promotions, the suit claimed.

According to court documents, in an effort to push Bextra into a larger market, Pfizer hired Scirex, a clinical testing firm, to help exploit a loophole in government regulations that prohibits the promotion of drugs for unapproved uses except in published research and medical education.

Scirex recruited dental patients to demonstrate the drug's effectiveness and published the results in the May 2002 edition of The Journal of the American Dental Association. As a result of the article, and heavy marketing efforts, sales significantly increased.

In 2005, Pfizer voluntarily withdrew Bextra from the U.S. market. The withdrawal was due to safety concerns over an increased risk of cardiovascular events in patients using the drug for acute pain treatment.

The $89 million settlement is still pending upon court approval and disbursement guidelines. A settlement hearing will take place within the next few months.

Hagens Berman served as lead counsel in both cases against Pfizer. More information regarding the settlement and each case is available on the firm's Web site at www.hbsslaw.com/cases/bextra.

About Hagens Berman

Hagens Berman, formally Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and New York. Since the firm's founding in 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice in class action and complex litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a pending $300 million settlement as lead counsel in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron employees which is awaiting distribution; a $150 million settlement involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS also served as counsel in a $850 million settlement in the Washington Public Power Supply litigation and represented Washington and 12 other states in lawsuits against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the history of litigation. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit www.hbsslaw.com.