New York, NY /DenounceNewswire/ -- 14 September 2003 -- Two hundred and twenty million people have added their signatures to the largest class-action suit in history, brought against Pfizer, Inc., makers of the Viagra drug. The suit contends that Pfizer is at least partly responsible for billions of dollars lost annually in personal and business productivity as a result of the massive amount of unsolicited email, known as spam, advertising the Viagra drug itself or its generic incarnations.

While Pfizer is not blamed directly for the sending the spam, the suit demands that Pfizer crack down on the companies using its trademark. The suit also asks the court to enjoin Pfizer from selling, licensing, or distributing its Viagra product to any company that uses email to reach customers.

Pfizer Chairman and CEO Henry A. McKinnell, Jr. declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The suit also asks the court to ban Pfizer from manufacturing the drug entirely if Viagra spam is not stopped "completely and permanently by December 31st, 2003."

"We are fed up," said Morton Diflucor, who heads up PAVES (People Against Viagra Email Spam), a group responsible for collecting the two hundred and twenty million signatures from people all over the world, "and if the spammers won't stop selling Pfizer's product, we're going to stop Pfizer from making the product."

Asked how he was able to collect two hundred and twenty million signatures as part of the class-action suit, Diflucor said, "Simple, we sent out emails to everyone on the planet, asking for help."

Posted by denounce on September 14, 2003 11:38 AM