Pfizer CEO Ordered to Testify in Person at October Trial

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge has ordered Pfizer chief executive officer Ian Read and vice presidents Diana Hughes and Carl Wilbanks to testify in person at an Oct. 22 Chantix trial.

Judge Inge P. Johnson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama denied Pfizer’s motion to quash the subpoenas, ruling that the executives are clearly a “party’s officers” as set forth by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45 and may therefore be compelled to testify.

Rule 45 states that a court must quash or modify a subpoena that “requires a person who is …