Drug giant Pfizer Inc. has agreed to pay $60 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the company of falsely marketing its diabetes drug Rezulin.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of purchasers of Rezulin who live in Illinois. It sought a refund for all Rezulin tablets they had purchased.

Pfizer admitted to no wrong doing as part of the settlement.

“While Pfizer firmly believes this case has no merit and that we would eventually prevail in the courts,” said Jeff Kindler, Pfizer’s General Counsel. Kindler added, “We’ve decided to resolve the matter to eliminate the expense and disruption of litigation that would take several years to work through.”

Rezulin was supplied by Warner-Lambert Company, which Pfizer acquired in June 2000. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 to treat Type 2 diabetes, a life-threatening illness that affects over 17 million Americans.

Rezulin was withdrawn from the ma rket in March 2000.

(via PR Newswire)