National
Desk
| May 18, 2003, Sunday Trial
Lawyers Are Now Focusing On Lawsuits Against
Drug Makers
By ALEX BERENSON (NYT) 2113 words
Late Edition - Final , Section 1 ,
Page 1 , Column 1
LEAD PARAGRAPH
- Enriched and emboldened after successful
fights against asbestos and tobacco
companies, some of the nation's top
plaintiffs' lawyers have trained their
sights on drug makers, claiming that many
giant pharmaceutical companies have hidden
the dangers of medicines the lawyers say
have harmed thousands of people.
In some cases the drugs at issue have
already been pulled off the market, like
Rezulin, a diabetes treatment from Pfizer
that the Food and Drug Administration has
linked to liver damage and is the target of
almost 9,000 suits. Other suits name some of
the industry's current best sellers,
including Paxil, an antidepressant that
plaintiffs contend is addictive -- a claim
denied by the drug's maker, GlaxoSmithKline.
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