Pfizer Inc. Dodges Claim for Another Bextra Payout

Although Pfizer admitted that fraudulent marketing produced 65 percent of all Bextra prescriptions, a health insurance provider cannot use statistics to accuse the drugmaker of a multimillion fraud, a federal judge ruled. The Food and Drug Administration approved the anti-inflammatory drug Bextra as a treatment for arthritis and painful menstruation, but the drug was withdrawn from the market in 2005 after it was found to substantially increase the risk of heart attack. Since Pfizer had also illegally marketed the drug as a pain reliever, the Justice Department fined Pfizer $2.3 billion - the largest criminal fine ever imposed in the United States.

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