A federal prosecutor says the drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay the government $14.5 million to settle charges it illegally marketed its drug for a condition called an overactive bladder.
The settlement resolves the last of 10 whistleblower lawsuits, dating back to 2003, that claimed Pfizer marketed a number of its drugs for unapproved uses. Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion two years ago to settle both criminal charges and civil claims in many of those cases, and the rest were dismissed.
In the final case, Pfizer was accused of marketing overactive bladder drug Detrol for men with enlarged prostates and related conditions including bladder obstruction. The drug wasn’t approved for those uses.
The settlement was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Boston.
