Three personal injury lawsuits were filed against Pfizer Inc last week, claiming its smoking cessation drug Chantix caused attempted suicides and death.
The lawsuits, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, claim that at the time the plaintiffs took Chantix, Pfizer did not tell doctors and patients about dangers it allegedly knew were related to the drug, including depression and thoughts of suicide.
Although Pfizer subsequently added warnings to its package insert, the law firm that filed all three lawsuits alleged the drug’s label is still inadequate.
Pfizer introduced Chantix in the United States in 2006, hoping it would become a multibillion-dollar product and revive flagging profits. The drug’s sales have fallen off as concerns about side effects increased.
The plaintiffs attorney alleged in the lawsuits that the company “intentionally, recklessly, and/or negligently concealed, suppressed, omitted, and/or misrepresented the risks, dangers, defects and disadvantages of Chantix.”
Two lawsuits claim the plaintiffs tried to kill themselves as a result of using Chantix. The third is a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of Indiana resident Annette Pine, claiming she committed suicide after using Chantix.
The lawsuits seek trials by jury, punitive and compensatory damages, medical and legal expenses, and, in Pine’s case, funeral expenses.
The lawsuits claim that each of the plaintiffs used the drug properly. They also claim that in each case the plaintiffs and their doctors were “not aware and through diligent efforts were not able to discover the risk of serious injury, and/or depressed mood and/or suicide associated with and/or caused by Chantix.”
If you or a family member has been personally injured because of the fault of someone else: by the use of dangerous and defective drugs, bad products, or toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas Defective Drugs Product Liability Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 214-390-3189 or Contact Me Online.