Pfizer Wins Third-Straight Asbestos Case

Marking its third straight victory, Pfizer Inc. has won an asbestos case against plaintiff Mrs. Harriette Stein, who filed the suit on behalf of her deceased husband, mesothelioma victim Mr. Carl Stein.

All three of the personal injury lawsuits stemmed from products made by Quigley Co., a defunct subsidiary of Pfizer that manufactured asbestos-containing products, including insulation called Insulag. After many years of asbestos suits, Quigley went bankrupt in 2004. Last year, claimants were granted permission to circumvent Quigley’s Chapter 11 protection – at which point, they started to go after Pfizer.

The ruling was based on reasoning used in the previous two cases, which were dismissed in January and March. Ultimately, Judge John M. Glynn decided that Pfizer, despite putting its labels and trademarks on Quigley products, was clearly not the manufacturer, and thus, did not necessarily endorse the product.

“I do not believe,” said Judge Glynn, “that a reasonable person, under all the circumstances provided to me in this case, could come to the conclusion from the documents that Pfizer was the manufacturer of the product. ‘Apparent’ means, to my mind, that the authority is plain and obvious on its face, not is it possible.”

Pfizer bought Quigley in 1968, prior to the ban on asbestos and the onslaught of lawsuits that forced the subsidiary into bankruptcy. Mesothelioma is an avoidable disease; asbestos exposure is the primary cause. Despite the ban on widespread asbestos use, there are approximately 3,000 mesothelioma diagnoses made each year.

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