Pharmacia & Upjohn sentenced in illegal promotion of pain killer Bextra

Pharmacia & Upjohn sentenced in marketing scheme

BOSTON — A subsidiary of Pfizer has been sentenced after pleading guilty to illegally promoting the pain killer Bextra.

Pharmacia and Upjohn had pleaded guilty in September to one count of felony misbranding as part of a settlement agreement that hit New York-based Pfizer Inc. with a record-breaking $2.3 billion in fines for illegal drug promotions.

Pharmacia & Upjohn agreed to pay a criminal fine of $1.195 billion and a criminal forfeiture of $150 million. The fines were formally imposed Friday when the company was sentenced in U.S. District Court.

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.