WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran has filed a securities fraud class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired the publicly-traded common stock of Pfizer, Inc. ("Pfizer" or the "Company") between November 1, 2000 and November 10, 2004, inclusive (the "Class Period").
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, defendants misrepresented and omitted material facts concerning the safety and marketability of Pfizer's Celebrex and Bextra products. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that at all times during the Class Period, Defendants were aware of strong indicators that Celebrex and Bextra, drugs known as "Cox-2 Inhibitors," posed serious undisclosed health risks to consumers, that these undisclosed health risks would limit their marketability, and that the potential financial liability Pfizer faced from the harms these drugs caused posed a serious threat to the Company's finances. Nevertheless, Defendants concealed these facts from the investing public.
Toward the close of the Class Period, a series of factual revelations from several sources caused the market to gradually perceive the truth about Pfizer's Bextra and Celebrex products. For example, on November 4, 2004, the Calgary Herald reported that "Celebrex, a popular pain drug touted as the safe alternative after Vioxx was pulled from drugstore shelves, is suspected of causing at least 14 deaths and numerous heart and brain side effects." Then, on November 10, 2004, the New York Times further shocked the market by reporting on a study finding that "[t]he incidence of heart attacks and strokes among patients given Pfizer's painkiller Bextra was more than double that of those given placebos."
As a result of these and other revelations, Pfizer's share price dropped from a closing price of $29.45 on November 3, 2004 to $27.15 on November 11, 2004 -- a drop of 8%.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all those who purchased or otherwise acquired Pfizer common stock during the Class Period, and is represented by the law firm of Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran. With offices in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, CA, Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran has spent almost three decades delivering outstanding representation to institutional and individual clients in connection with securities and other finance-related litigation, and has been appointed as lead or co-lead counsel in dozens of federal securities fraud class actions. Indeed, in the past ten years, the firm has served in leadership roles in cases that have recovered almost $1 billion for investors and consumers.
If you bought or otherwise acquired Pfizer common stock between November 1, 2000 and November 10, 2004, inclusive, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. A lead plaintiff is a person who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Any member of the proposed class who wishes to move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff must do so no later than February 14, 2005. In order to serve as lead plaintiff, you must meet certain legal requirements. If you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Donald J. Enright or Michael G. McLellan with Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran's Washington, DC office, at (866)592-1960, or by email at dje@ftllaw.com or mgm@ftllaw.com.
Finkelstein, Thompson & Loughran