American Optical Claims Unaffected by Pfizer-Subsidiary Chapter 11 Filing

NEW YORK - Pfizer subsidiary Quigley Co. has filed a petition for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court after announcing that it reached an agreement to resolve pending and future occupational dust exposure claims against the company. In Re: Quigley Company, Inc., No. 04-15739 (S.D. N.Y., Bankr.).

The petition, filed Sept. 3 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks court and claimant approval of a $430 million settlement of lawsuits involving exposure to asbestos-containing products sold by Quigley until the early 1970s, Pfizer said in a written statement. Pfizer acquired Quigley in 1968. …