Pfizer Ordered to Pay Millions for Stealing Data

Susy Owen

Attorney

0 CommentsPrint ArticleSubscribe

After a six-week trial, a Santa Clara jury ordered drug manufacturer Pfizer to pay $38 million for stealing massive information from a database used in the development of the drug Bextra. The payment will go to a San Bruno based Ischemia Research and Education Foundation.

Pfizer, along with a former employee of the research foundation, Ping Hsu, may also be held liable for punitive damages sending the final judgment upwards of $100 million. Hsu, a lead statistician, was allegedly contracted by Pfizer and thus provided data without approval. When confronted, Pfizer and Hsu are said to have destroyed any evidence of correspondence.

A jury foreman stated that the jury observed “a mountain of evidence that showed Pfizer improperly secured a treasure trove of medical research that had taken decades to develop.”

A representative for Pfizer vowed to appeal the verdict.