Pfizer pleads guilty, but drug sales continue to soar

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7450.1217

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Jeanne Lenzer

New York

Pfizer, the world's largest drug maker, pleaded guilty on 13 May to numerous civil and criminal charges for illegally promoting the off-label use of gabapentin (Neurontin). It has agreed to pay a $240m (£136m; €200m) criminal fine and $152m to state and federal healthcare programmes. The fine is the second largest given in the industry.

Meanwhile, off-label sales of gabapentin continue to soar, despite evidence that the drug is not effective for some of the problems it is used to treat.

David Franklin, 42, a microbiologist and former Harvard …