Rockville, Md. — The diabetes drug Rezulin caused the 1998 death of a Rockville woman, and the drug's maker knew it was dangerous, attorneys for the woman's family said Thursday as a trial against the drug maker got under way.
The case against Warner-Lambert, now owned by Pfizer, is one of the first to go to trial. More than 4,200 lawsuits are pending over Rezulin, which was pulled from the market by the federal Food and Drug Administration in March 2000 because of toxic liver side effects.
The FDA approved Rezulin in 1997 to treat adult diabetes, and it was taken by nearly 2 million people with sales topping $2 billion a year before it was removed from the market.
Reports of liver failure emerged soon after it was introduced in 1997, prompting British officials to recall the drug in 1998. The FDA approved warnings on the drug's label before removing it from the market.
The suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court was filed by relatives of Monica George, 68, who died while awaiting a liver transplant. The family is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages as well as unspecified punitive damages.
Attorneys for the family said in opening statements that a financially ailing Warner-Lambert pushed the potentially lucrative drug through clinical trials without disclosing its full risk.
"At each stage in the development this company concealed and minimized the risk to get it on the market," attorney Rainey Booth told jurors.
Company attorneys said the drug was thoroughly tested and its benefits far outweighed the risks.
Pfizer has won one of three earlier suits, but settled two others after losing jury verdicts.
Last week, Pfizer settled a lawsuit in Kansas City, Mo., for an undisclosed amount just before a jury was to deliver its verdict. Pfizer did not admit liability in the settlements.
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