Parker Waichman Alonso LLP represented a whistleblower in one of the lawsuits
involved in the recent $2.3 billion Pfizer settlement. The whistleblower lawsuit
alleged that Pfizer illegally promoted the off-label use of the antipsychotic
medication Geodon.

The Parker Waichman Alonso lawsuit was one of nine settled by the U.S.
Department of Justice that charged Pfizer illegally marketed Geodon, as well as
the pain killer Bextra; Zyvox, an antibiotic; and Lyrica, an anti-epileptic
drug. The civil settlement also resolves allegations that Pfizer paid kickbacks
to health care providers to induce them to prescribe these, as well as other,
drugs.

Under the terms of the settlement, Pfizer subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Company
Inc. has also agreed to plead guilty to a felony violation that it illegally
promoted the off-label use of Bextra. Pharmacia & Upjohn will pay $1.3 billion
toward the total settlement.

The $2.3 billion settlement is the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the
history of the U.S. Department of Justice. The Geodon portion of the settlement
was $301 million.

For more information contact
Parker Waichman Alonso LLP - at www.yourlawyer.com

Norwich — The city has tentatively settled a lawsuit with a young woman who charged that a former Norwich police lieutenant took topless photos of her in 2001 under the guise of using them for police business.

Kristen Ejchorszt was the first person to raise the allegations against Lt. James Daigle. In the ensuing months, two other women came forward with similar allegations, and further charged that Daigle took fully nude pictures of them. Ejchorszt said that Daigle recruited her to participate in an underage-drinking sting on Nov. 30, 2001. Daigle told her the topless photographs were necessary to properly document the sting, she claims.

City Corporation Counsel Michael Driscoll said this morning he learned of the settlement Wednesday just as jury selection was set to get underway in U.S. District Court in Hartford. Driscoll said the Connecticut Guaranty Insurance Fund would pay the $75,000 settlement since the city's insurance carrier at the time has gone into receivership.

Calais Weber and Cecilia Chen, both 17, are now college students studying in Massachusetts. Calais is a Wellesley College undergraduate, while Chen studies at Harvard. The two students are also burn injury survivors of a chemistry experiment gone bad when they were high school students at Western Reserve Academy, a private boarding school in Ohio.

This month, the two students and their families settled their personal injury lawsuit with the school for $18.9 million. Weber and her family received $13.1 million, and Chen and her family received $5.8 million.

46% of Weber’s body sustained burn injuries. She became very depressed after the accident and considered committing suicide. She has had at least 16 surgeries to treat her injuries so far and says she was unrecognizable to herself after the accident.

Read more at
http://www.ohio.com/news/break_news/13878632.html