There are more than 10,000 lawsuits against Wyeth/Pfizer regarding the link between PremPro and breast cancer. There have been 12 verdicts so far, and juries have awarded money to the plaintiffs in ten of those cases. The latest was announced today, in Donna Kendall v. Wyeth (Phila. CCP, June Term, 2004, No. 0965). The jury awarded Ms. Kendall $6.3 million in compensatory damages, and $28 million in punitive damages.

So far, thirteen women have settled their claims with Wyeth/Pfizer, but if awards like these continue, can we expect Pfizer soon to be offering to settle the rest?

The film clip at left is a video press release prepared by Littlepage Booth, the Houston law firm that represented both Connie Barton and Donna Kendall in their claims against Wyeth/Pfizer.

Image from Online Journal

Even though the verdict regarding punitive damages awarded to Connie Barton in her suit against Prempro was sealed (as we wrote last week), the figure has leaked out. A Philadelphia jury awarded her $75 million in punitive damages, in addition to $3.7 million in compensation for her trouble.  Although Pfizer/Wyeth will surely appeal, it’s a substantial victory to see punitive damages in an amount that is more than 20 times the compensatory damages. The jury found Wyeth’s conduct in marketing and selling the drug was “willful and wanton,” and put their money where their mouth is.

Connie Barton, an Illinois woman who developed breast cancer after taking Prempro for menopausal symptoms, was awarded punitive damages by a jury in Philadelphia yesterday. The jury has already awarded her $3.7 million in compensatory damages, back in September, but we will not learn the amount of punitive damages until another Philadelphia jury reaches their verdict in similar case against the Pfizer, the drug’s manufacturer. (Technically, the case was filed against Wyeth, but the two companies just completed a merger deal last week, and Wyeth is now a subsidiary of Pfizer.)

Wyeth’s attorneys successfully argued that public revelation of the amount of damages might influence the jurors in Kendall v. Wyeth. However, the jury’s finding that Wyeth ignored evidence that the drug could cause cancer is now public information. Would I sound bitter if I said I hope that news influences potential jurors?

According to the news story about Barton’s case at philly.com, Pfizer has now lost five of eight trials over its hormone-replacement drugs since cases began reaching juries in 2006. 1500 more trials against Wyeth are pending at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. But a longer story in Philadelphia Magazine reports 23 out of 31 cases set for trial have been resolved favorably for Wyeth; the company has settled five, and several are on appeal.  Continue reading...