Neurontin Maker Fined

On May 13 drug manufacturer Pfizer was fined $430 million for promoting off-label use of the drug Neurontin (gabapentin). The company violated the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act which prohibits marketing a drug for uses other than those which have been approved. The FDA approved Neurontin for use in treating epilepsy in 1993 and for post-herpetic pain in 2002.

While medical professionals can prescribe approved drugs for any condition, insiders alleged that the company provided incentives to doctors to use Neurontin as a treatment for pain, headaches, bi-polar disorder and other psychiatric illnesses. Sales of Neurontin soared from $97.5 million in 1995 to nearly $2.7 billion in 2003. Neurontin is a treatment option considered by many expert CFIDS clinicians. As with most prescription medications, some patients find it very helpful, while others experience little or no benefit.

Patients who take Neurontin should not be affected by the settlement, although some industry analysts expect that the size of the award may spur other investigations into marketing off-label uses of pharmaceuticals. There are no drugs approved by FDA for specific use in treating CFIDS.

For more information about the use of Neurontin in CFIDS, read an article published in The CFIDS Chronicle in 1999, available at http://www.cfids.org/archives/1999/1999-2-article04.asp