Legal News

First Neurontin Case Dismissed: Pfizer Saved by the Mystery Donor

By Ashby Jones

Well, that was strange. The first case in what’s widely expected to be a long-running string of cases between plaintiffs lawyers and pharma giant Pfizer over the alleged effects of Pfizer’s anti-epilepsy drug, Neurontin, was voluntarily dismissed on Wednesday by the plaintiff’s lawyer on the case, Mark Lanier.

The case, the first of some 1,200 Neurontin suits in the pipeline, was brought by the family of Susan Bulger, a 39-year-old woman who took the drug before hanging herself in 2004.

Weird, behavior, you say, to dismiss the case just after it starts? Well, consider this: Lanier dropped the case partly, it seems, because an anonymous donor stepped up and agreed to put money in trust for the daughter of the woman who committed suicide, allegedly due to Neurontin’s side-effects.

"It was the best thing for the family," said David Egilman, a spokesman for the decedent’s family, to Bloomberg.

We’ve placed a call to Lanier to clear things up on this (an anonymous donor?), but have yet to hear back. But it’s probably safe to say Lanier’s happy to have the case set aside. Earlier in the week, after all, he seemed to voice some skepticism over the case, conceding to the American Lawyer that he had a tough case. "I've got a near impossible case. . . . If I lose, it's almost like a focus group educational experiment. If I win, it portends bad things for Pfizer."

The point was made by Boston federal district court Judge Patti Saris, who, at a pre-trial hearing, called Bulger's case "very tough" because of the plaintiff's "personal history." Said Lanier: "[Bulger] tried to commit suicide three times. She prostituted herself. She abused drugs."

One thing’s for sure: Pfizer ain’t complainin’. Said general counsel Amy Schulman after today’s dismissal:

Today, the plaintiff in the first Neurontin personal injury trial dismissed his case with prejudice after only one day of trial. Pfizer has not paid anything in exchange for plaintiff's dismissal and continues to believe that there is no scientifically reliable evidence that Neurontin causes suicidal behavior. . . . Neurontin is an important FDA-approved medicine that physicians have prescribed to treat millions of patients safely and effectively.

Of course, we’ll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 29, 2009 (boomark / email).