After thumbing through a few dictionaries, a judge has brought an abrupt end to a whistle-blower case against Pfizer Inc. that has bounced around the courts since 2004, producing several lengthy amended complaints along the way. In an 11-page order issued Thursday, U.S. district judge Brian Cogan dismissed with prejudice a former Pfizer employee’s claim that the company illegally promoted the cholesterol drug Lipitor for off-label uses.
Siding with Pfizer’s lawyers at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Cogan ruled that while Pfizer’s marketing of the drug may have violated certain industry guidelines, the company didn’t engage in fraud, because those guidelines were “merely informational and advisory rather than restrictive limitations.” To emphasize his point, the Brooklyn-based judge noted that dictionaries uniformly define the term “guidelines” to mean something that’s being suggested, not required.
