US payer's proposed class action hits Forest on Celexa promotion
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Forest, Pfizerand Warner-Lambert (acquired by Pfizer in 2000) have been hit with a proposed class action by a third party, which alleges that from 1998 through at least 2005 the companies engaged in a "widespread campaign" to illegally market the SSRI antidepressants Celexa (citalopram) and Lexapro (escitalopram), for off-label use in paediatric patients. Forest had a co-promotion agreement for Celexa with Warner-Lambert.