Court Denies Pfizer's Motion for Summary Judgment in La. Zoloft Case

BATON ROUGE -- A federal judge on March 30 rejected Pfizer Inc.'s motion for summary judgment on preemption grounds in a Zoloft wrongful death lawsuit. Miles, et al., v. Pfizer Inc., No. 3:03-cv-00691 (M.D. La.).

Plaintiff Mary K. Miles alleges that her husband's suicide was caused by Zoloft (sertraline). She claims that Bruce Miles died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Aug. 23, 2002, while using Zoloft, which was given to him in sample form by his family doctor.

She sued Pfizer in August 2003 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (No. 03-cv-2356) on behalf …