Pfizer to Pay Almost $1 Million for Distributing Misleading Literature

Pfizer will pay $975,000 to settle allegations by the state of Oregon that the drugmaker distributed misleading coupons and marketing materials in the state.

The Oregon Department of Justice found that the company distributed marketing materials and coupons misleadingly claiming consumers would “pay no more than” a certain amount for its postmenopausal estrogen drug Estring (estradiol vaginal ring), its acute pain treatment Flector Patch (diclofenac epolamine) and its ADHD treatments Quillivant and Quillichew (methylphenidate HCl) when in fact, numerous customers had to pay far more at the pharmacy.

The investigation identified more than 350 customers who paid more than $40,000 in total over the amount the coupons promised the first time they filled a prescription.