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Rimadyl Lawsuit Settled



 
 
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Old August 20th 04, 11:43 AM
Ruth
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Default Rimadyl Lawsuit Settled

LAWSUIT OVER VETERINARY DRUG SETTLED FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Johns Island, South Carolina - August 18, 2004 Jean
Townsend of Johns Island,
South Carolina announced today that a settlement has been reached with
Pfizer, Inc. in what appears
to be the first lawsuit of its kind in this country - a lawsuit over
injuries that led to the death
of Ms. Townsend's chocolate lab, George. Ms. Townsend originally brought a
class action lawsuit
against Pfizer in October of 1999, two years after the tragic death of
George. The lawsuit alleged
that after initial approval by the FDA, the drug RimadylR, which was the
subject of an
unprecedented multi-million dollar advertising campaign, was marketed
without a complete
understanding of the serious side-effects that could result from the drug.
Ms. Townsend also
alleged that neither she nor her vet were adequately warned of the potential
side-effects. After
administering the drug for only 14 days, George developed severe internal
bleeding and ultimately
liver failure. George was euthanized on October 13, 1997. In reaching the
settlement, Pfizer has
admitted no wrong- doing. "It was truly horrible," said Townsend of the
experience. "But the most
troubling aspect of the ordeal was when I later learned that similar side-
effects had been
reported to Pfizer and the FDA months before I first gave the drug to my
dog. Yet even after my pet
became sick, I continued to give him the pills because they were supposed to
make him feel better.
I had no idea that he was suffering from the side-effects of RimadylR. It is
devastating to live
with the realization that I gave my beloved pet medicine to help him when,
in fact, it was killing
him." After reporting George's death to Pfizer, Ms. Townsend was offered a
$249.33 settlement, but
the offer came with the condition that the settlement remain confidential.
Ms. Townsend refused. In
the months following George's death, Ms. Townsend began researching this
drug on the internet and
soon discovered dozens of other pet owners who had similar experiences with
RimadylR. Fueled by the
growing number of people whose dogs had become sick or died after taking the
drug, Ms. Townsend,
along with other concerned pet owners, started a campaign to raise awareness
of the potential for
serious side- effects with this and other veterinary medicines. As part of
that campaign, Ms.
Townsend and others met with FDA officials as well as Pfizer veterinarians,
urging them to step-up
efforts to more thoroughly inform pet owners of the potential for serious
side-effects with
veterinary medicines. Unsatisfied with the response of the FDA and Pfizer,
Ms. Townsend turned to
the legal system and filed a class-action lawsuit. In her suit, Ms. Townsend
sought reimbursement
of the $734.00 in veterinary expenses she had incurred trying to save
George, as well as
establishing a class action on behalf of the hundreds of other dog owners
whose pets had become ill
or died. In the meantime, reports of adverse reactions to RimadylR continued
to rise, and in 1998,
RimadylR accounted for almost 39% of all Adverse Drug Experience Reports
received by the FDA. The
reports were so numerous that in December of 1999, the FDA took the
extraordinary step of issuing a
public statement on the drug. Within months of Ms. Townsend's suit and the
"Update on RimadylR"
issued by the FDA, Pfizer announced significant changes in packaging, and
that it would begin
dispensing a Client Information Sheet to be included with veterinary
prescriptions of RimadylR. The
Client Information Sheet, modeled after similar drug information sheets
included with many human
drugs, was to provide pet owners with easily understandable information
about the potential side-
effects and what to do if side-effects occur. Ms. Townsend reports that as
part of the settlement,
Pfizer made cash offers to over 300 other dog owners across the country to
settle claims for death
or injury to the dog, veterinary expenses, property damage, emotional
distress and punitive damages.
These individual offers averaged over $1000.00 per animal and did not
include a confidentiality
provision. Speaking about the lawsuit and the settlement, Ms. Townsend said,
"I am pleased that
through this suit, hundreds of other pet owners will be reimbursed for
veterinary expenses and the
loss of their pets. Of course, no amount of money would ever replace the
loss of my friend George,
and the loss of so many other beloved companions." But to Ms. Townsend, (who
donated her settlement
proceeds to a local veterinarian to perform surgery on a pet whose owners
could not afford the
surgery) the issue is far more than the money paid by Pfizer. It is the
growing public awareness
that the medications we give our pets can have serious side-effects. "We, as
pet owners, have the
right to know as much about the good and bad sides of veterinary medicines
as we do the medicines
we give ourselves."



--
Ruth

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."

Theodore Roosevelt


 




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