Allergan sues Pfizer over opioid crisis lawsuits

pharmafile | August 3, 2018 | News story | Medical Communications |ย ย Allergan, Litigation, Pfizer, lawsuits, opioid crisis, opioidsย 

Allergan are suing American pharma giant Pfizer over potential damages that they may be forced to pay relating to hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed against them over their alleged role in the opioid crisis.

Allergan, and others such as Purdue Pharma, could be forced make huge pay-outs to resolve lawsuits in which the opioid drug makers have been accused of misleading the public and creating a national health crisis. Allergan have been accused of improperly marketing the opioid painkiller Kadian in allegations dating back to the mid-1990s. Bloomberg Intelligence have estimated that settlements could total $50 billion, as the plaintiffโ€™s lawyers have compared the situation to the one faced by tobacco companies during the latter half of the 20th century.

However, Allergan, who acquired the morphine based drug Kadian in 2008, have claimed that the alleged offences occurred before they acquired the opioid painkiller. As such the company are suing Pfizer, whose subsidiary King Pharmaceuticals have been blamed for improperly marketing the opioid drug.

Nevertheless Pfizer have announced that they reject any responsibility and that they will not compensate Allergan. The pharma giant announced in a statement: โ€œAllerganโ€™s claims relate to a product that Pfizer never manufactured, marketed or sold. Instead, they arise from a historical 2008 contract belonging to King Pharmaceuticals, a company we acquired in 2010.โ€

Advertisement

Louis Goss

Related Content

NICE recommends Pfizerโ€™s new once-weekly treatment for haemophilia B on NHS

Walton Oaks, 21stย May 2025ย โ€“ย Pfizer Ltd announced today that the National Institute for Health and Care …

Vaccine image

Pfizer releases results for severe RSV-associated LRTD treatment study

US-based Pfizer have announced results from its substudy B of the ongoing phase 3 clinical …

New Real-World Data Published in Journal of Cardiac Failureย on Effectiveness

Patients treated with tafamidis were associated with greater rates of survival compared with patients untreated …

The Gateway to Local Adoption Series

Latest content