Calif. Woman Says Pfizer Failed to Warn of Risks Posed by Sickle Cell Drug

SAN MATEO, Calif. — A California woman has sued Pfizer Inc. and a subsidiary, alleging their recalled sickle cell disease drug Oxbryta (voxelotor) caused her to experience several potentially deadly vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs), a risk of which her physician was not warned.

In a Dec. 30 complaint filed in the San Mateo (Calif.) Superior Court, the plaintiff alleges Pfizer and Global Blook Therapeutics Inc. knew or should have known from numerous patient reports and scientific studies that Oxbryta causes increased VOCs and death, yet failed to mention those risks on the drug’s label.

“Two registry-based studies found that patients had …