Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, began trial Monday on claims its epilepsy medication Neurontin increases the risk of suicide, in a case the judge called “very tough” for the plaintiffs to win.

The trial will be the first of what plaintiffs’ lawyers say are about 1,200 cases. It will show each side the other’s strategy and may help point the way to settlements. The lead attorney for the family of Susan Bulger, 39, who took the drug before hanging herself in 2004, is Mark Lanier, winner of the biggest verdict over Merck & Co.’s painkiller Vioxx.

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