Pharmacia and Upjohn pleads guilty in drug marketing case

Pfizer subsidiary pleads guilty in marketing case

BOSTON — A subsidiary of Pfizer has pleaded guilty to illegally promoting the pain killer Bextra.

Pharmacia and Upjohn entered its plea in U.S. District Court Tuesday in Boston to one count of felony misbranding.

The plea was expected as part of a settlement agreement announced earlier this month, when prosecutors slapped New York-based Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines for illegal drug promotions.

The company promoted Bextra as a treatment for acute pain and surgical pain when it had not been approved for those uses by federal regulators. The drug was approved to treat arthritis.

It was taken off the market in 2005 amid mounting evidence it raised the risk of heart attack, stroke and death.