Wyeth gets hit with multi million dollar verdict

A Nevada jury awarded $134.5 million to three women who claimed Wyeth's hormone-therapy drugs caused their breast cancer.

Jurors awarded compensatory damages to plaintiffs Arlene Rowatt, Jeraldine Scofield and Pamela Forrester after finding Wyeth was negligent, that its drugs were defective and that the company concealed a material fact about the products' safety. All these issues were a cause of injury or damage to the women, the jury said.

The jury, which also found that Wyeth acted with malice or fraud, awarded damages of $43.5 million to Ms. Scofield, $47.5 million to Ms. Forrester and $43.5 million to Ms. Rowatt.
A Wyeth spokesman declined to comment because the case "is not yet complete," citing a hearing on punitive damages scheduled for today. The plaintiffs' law firm also declined comment, citing today's hearing.

The suit, filed in Washoe County District Court in Reno, is one of some 5,300 hormone-replacement cases filed against Wyeth on behalf of 7,900 plaintiffs, according to the pharmaceutical maker. The complaints allege personal injury as a result of the plaintiffs' use of one or more of Wyeth's hormone- or estrogen-therapy products, including Prempro and Premarin, used to treat menopausal symptoms.

The Reno case is the seventh to reach a verdict since trials began last year. Three of the other six trials resulted in verdicts in favor of Wyeth. Of those favoring plaintiffs, one was overturned and judgment entered in favor of Wyeth, and verdicts in the two others were thrown out and new trials ordered by judges. None of the victorious plaintiffs in those cases had been awarded damages greater than $3 million.Three other cases also have been dismissed by courts on summary judgment, and a dozen other cases that had been set for trial were voluntarily withdrawn by plaintiffs before trial.

Wall Street didn't appear rattled by the verdict. Wyeth's shares, which have been in a slump lately for reasons related to the company's pipeline and generic drugs, were down 38 cents to $45.78 in 4 p.m. composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Deutsche Bank drug analyst Barbara Ryan said that it is too early in the string of litigation to presume this case would be the start of a trend, and that in general the hormone-replacement cases appear tougher for plaintiffs to win than past "fen-phen" diet-drug litigation against the company. Wyeth is an investment-banking client of Deutsche Bank.

Lawyers for the Madison, N.J., drug maker have argued that the company clearly warned users that there was a slightly increased risk of breast cancer from taking Prempro, which was first marketed in 1995. In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it hasn't established any litigation-reserve fund for its hormone-therapy litigation.
Howard Erichson, a professor at Seton Hall law school in New Jersey, said it is common for surprisingly large damage awards to be lowered. But, he added, "With thousands of cases remaining to be tried, it's a scary thing to know that juries don't like your argument."

Another, "I don't want to take responsibility for my actions" lawsuit(s) there has been research since the 1980's that suggested estrogen therapy has an incidence of breast cancers. This settlement is ridiculous.