Mass. Judge Stymies Pfizer's Efforts to Obtain Medical Journal's Communications

BOSTON - Communications between peer reviewers and the authors of articles published in the New England Journal of Medicine are "entitled to the level of protection afforded journalists" and are not discoverable, a Massachusetts magistrate judge has held. In re Bextra and Celebrex Marketing Sales Practices and Product Liability Litigation, No. 08-mc-10008 (D. Mass.).

In a March 31 ruling, Magistrate Judge Leo T. Sorokin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied Pfizer Inc.'s motion to compel production of the materials and issued a order to protect their confidentiality. Pfizer sought to introduce the materials in the …