Hormone Replacement Drug Lawsuit
In an injury lawsuit involving pharmaceutical drugs, a jury ordered Wyeth to pay a $134.5 million. The product liability lawsuit was brought by three women who claimed the company's hormone replacement drugs caused their breast cancer. It was the largest award to date against the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company, which faces about 5,300 similar lawsuits across the country in state and federal courts.
The jury deliberated for two days before announcing its verdict late yesterday in favor of the plaintiffs who were 75, 67, and 64 years old. The same five-man, two-woman jury will be considering punitive damages against the drug maker.
During the four-week trial, the plaintiffs testified that they started taking Premarin, an estrogen replacement, and Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin, to help offset menopausal symptoms, but were taken off the therapy when they developed breast cancer. In defense, Wyeth lawyers argued the company sponsored or participated in a list of studies on the risks of breast cancer, and identified the risks on warning labels included with each bottle of the drug. The drug maker also focused on the fact that its drug was approved the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and remained on the market.
As the verdict reveals, the jury found those excuses unpersuasive. Consumers are entitled to safe pharmaceutical drugs and where necessary, adequate warnings. Hopefully, this verdict will have a positive impact on the pharmaceutical giants.
