Pfizer: Deposing Sales Reps Will Move Bextra/Celebrex Litigation Sideways

SAN FRANCISCO - Pfizer Inc. has moved to preclude depositions of its sales representatives during common discovery in the federal Bextra/Celebrex MDL, but plaintiffs continue to argue that the MDL's pretrial language fails to characterize sales representatives strictly as case-specific witnesses. In Re: Bextra/Celebrex Marketing Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1699 (N.D. Calif.).

In letter briefs to Special Master Fern M. Smith of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Pfizer and the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee dispute the language contained in Section 5 of the MDL's Pretrial Order No. 4, which states in relevant …