Pfizer ordered to pay $894 million to settle claims from painkiller lawsuits

NEW YORK Pfizer has agreed to pay almost $900 million to resolve the lawsuits related to two of its painkillers, following allegations that they caused heart attacks, strokes and other injuries.

The company will pay $894 million to resolve lawsuits concerning the painkillers Celebrex (celecoxib) and Bextra (valdecoxib). Judges in the state of New York and at the federal level ruled in the cases that plaintiffs’ lawyers failed to present sufficient evidence to show that Celebrex caused heart attacks or strokes.

Together with Bextra, Celebrex belongs to a class of drugs known as Cox-2 inhibitors. Pfizer recalled Bextra in 2005, though Celebrex remains on the market.