MORE LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST PFIZER OVER MARKETING OF LIPITOR

Seventeen more lawsuits have been filed against Pfizer alleging that the company misled patients and doctors with marketing that downplayed the risks associated with taking its cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, according to a press release by the lawyer representing the plaintiffs.

The personal injury suits, all filed in New York State Supreme Court on July 14 by attorney Mark Jay Krum, were brought on behalf of plaintiffs from California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Virginia. The suits charge Pfizer with "concealing serious and permanent health risks associated with the blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor," including nerve damage, memory loss, fatigue and loss of balance. Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) is the top-selling drug in the world, according to Pfizer, and could top $13 billion in sales this year.

"No one is challenging Lipitor's effectiveness in lowering cholesterol levels, nor do we contend that the drug is unsafe for all patients," Krum said in a statement. The press release notes that even after the FDA warned Pfizer in 2002 about DTC ads promoting Lipitor as safer than other statins, the drugmaker continued to run them.

Pfizer responded in a statement calling the charges "baseless claims" that "create undue concerns for Lipitor patients and unnecessary confusion for healthcare professionals."

"The extensive medical data regarding the safety and efficacy of Lipitor do not establish a causal link between Lipitor and nerve damage, memory loss or the other cognitive impairments alleged in these lawsuits," Pfizer said.

The suits follow two others filed in New York State Supreme Court last month also alleging the drugmaker engaged in misleading advertising. The Welfare Fund of Teamsters Local Union 863 filed a similar suit March 27.