U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerry Funk allowed the payments after naming a fee examiner, who will review the fees charged by the law firms and consultants in the huge bankruptcy case and determine if they are proper.

[Peter Rost], vice president of marketing, charged in a 2003 complaint that Pharmacia, a Pfizer subsidiary, marketed the human growth hormone Genotropin for unapproved, or "off-label," uses and improperly sought reimbursement from federal health plans.

On Nov. 10, the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts declined to intervene in the lawsuit, and a federal judge ordered the complaint unsealed. Pfizer filed a motion Thursday to dismiss Rost's complaint altogether.