Jurors deliberated about five hours before finding that the combination of Wyeth’s Prempro and Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Provera menopause drugs was a substantial contributing factor in Donna Kendall’s breast cancer. Kendall, 66, had a double mastectomy in 2002 after taking the hormone-replacement drugs for 11 years.
The panel will hear evidence Nov. 23 on whether Wyeth and Upjohn should pay punitive damages over their handling of the drugs. Wyeth has lost six of nine jury verdicts, including the last four in a row, over the drugs since 2006. This is Upjohn’s third loss at the jury stage. A trial judge threw out one verdict and another is on appeal.
“We’ve very pleased with the compensatory verdict and we look forward to the jury hearing the rest of the case,” Tobi Millrood, an attorney for Kendall, said after the verdict was read.
Pfizer’s losses in Prempro cases may have company officials considering a global settlement proposal to resolve them, said David Logan, dean of the Roger Williams University Law School.
“There is definitely a squeal point for companies in these kinds of product-liability cases where they start thinking about settling,” Logan, who teaches classes on mass-tort law, said in an interview.
“When the trend starts running clearly against companies in these cases, and they keep getting pounded by juries, the issue of settlement become a popular topic in the boardroom,” he added.
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