Pfizer is now the defendant in another Zoloft lawsuit, this time, filed by the State of Louisiana. In the suit, the state alleges that Pfizer willfully withheld information about Zoloft’s effectiveness.
The complaint, filed by Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell in East Baton Rouge Parish, claims, "The defendant (Pfizer) caused thousands of false and deceptive claims to be made to the state by manipulating published efficacy data, paying key opinion leaders to bolster Zoloft’s efficacy, and deceptively concealing Zoloft’s inefficacy to physicians, customers, and the state,” according to a recent article by United Press International (UPI).
According to Caldwell, Pfizer representatives themselves penned articles for medical journals touting the benefits of Zoloft, then paid medical researchers to claim credit for the articles. In the lawsuit, Caldwell alleges that Zoloft is actually only minimally more effective than a placebo when it comes to treating depression.
Caldwell claims that Pfizer’s concerns about Zoloft began even before the drug was released to the public, when multiple clinical trials showed that study patients given placebo pills had better results than patients given Zoloft. This, according to Caldwell and others, prompted a campaign to suppress negative results and flood the public opinion with positive reviews about Zoloft’s effectiveness.
This is not the first time claims about Pfizer’s misleading Zoloft advertising have arisen. In 2008, a New York Times investigation shed light on the topic, and an article appearing in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2003 highlights the ghostwriting campaign noted in the recent lawsuit.
Zoloft (sertraline) is prescribed to tens of millions of patients in the United States alone, and is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in this country. Pfizer has been subject to numerous personal injury lawsuits regarding Zoloft in recent years, many based on allegations that the drug caused birth defects when taken by pregnant women.
If you or someone you love has suffered as a result of Zoloft, you could be entitled to substantial financial compensation for multiple damages. To learn more about plaintiffs’ rights in Zoloft lawsuits, please contact us to schedule a free legal consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer from the Flood Law Group, LLP.
