Pfizer ordered to pay $103 million in punitive damages in hormone drug cases.

On the front page of its Business Day section, the New York Times (11/24, B1, Wilson) reports, "Pfizer has been ordered to pay a total of $103 million in punitive damages to two women who were found to have breast cancer after they used" the hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro. Pfizer units Pharmacia and Wyeth "marketed the drugs as a standard, long-term hormone treatment for menopausal women, until medical evidence emerged indicating that such therapy raised women's risk of breast cancer." The FDA "added black-box warnings to the drugs' labels" after the finding, "cautioning that they be used at the smallest possible doses for the shortest possible time." Now, a jury has "reached a $28 million judgment" in a case Monday, "while a judge unsealed a month-old $75 million judgment in the other case."
Lawyers for the plaintiff Monday noted, "This is just the tip of the iceberg as Wyeth faces lawsuits from more than 10,000 additional women who also claim that Wyeth's drugs gave them breast cancer," Bloomberg News (11/24, Feeley, Pearson) reports. But, a Pfizer spokesman said that "of the 34 trial-set cases to date, there have been only four plaintiffs' verdicts that have not been set aside." The Legal Intelligencer (11/24, Elliott-Engel) and the Wall Street Journal (11/24, Loftus) also covered the story.

Florida jury orders Philip Morris to pay $300M to former smoker.

The AP (11/19) reported, "South Florida jury on Thursday ordered Philip Morris USA to pay $300 million to a former smoker, agreeing that the tobacco company's negligence was the cause of her emphysema. The award for Cindy Naugle, 61, is the largest to date among thousands of lawsuits filed in the state against tobacco companies." Richard A. Daynard, chairman of the Tobacco Products Liability Project, said, "Large verdicts encourage other large verdicts," adding, "This gives jurors permission to fully compensate plaintiffs for all the harm they suffered and to express their moral outrage at the industry's behavior."
Bloomberg News (11/20, Pettersson) reports, "Altria, based in Richmond, Virginia, said it will seek 'further review' of the verdict." Reuters (11/20, Keating) also covered the story.

Judge orders Pfizer to pay $75 million in punitive damages in Prempro case.

Bloomberg News (11/5, Feeley) reports, "Pfizer Inc. must pay about $75 million in punitive damages to an Illinois woman who developed cancer after taking one of the drugmaker's menopause treatments, people familiar with a sealed verdict in the case said." A judge ordered Pfizer's Wyeth unit "to pay the bad-conduct award, which is about 20 times larger than the $3.7 million in actual damages the panel awarded to Connie Barton over her use of Wyeth's Prempro menopause drug." At issue in the case was whether "Prempro helped cause the illness and the manufacturer failed to warn Barton and her doctors adequately about the drug's risks." The award "is the third surviving verdict in Prempro cases since juries began deciding them in 2006." A spokesman for Pfizer said the company plans "to ask the judge to reject both the compensatory and punitive awards."

Jury rules Wyeth concealed Prempro breast-cancer risks. $3.7 million verdict.

Bloomberg News (10/24, Feeley, Pearson) reported, "A Pfizer Inc. unit concealed the breast-cancer risks of its hormone-replacement therapy drug Prempro and is liable for $3.7 million in damages to an Illinois woman," a jury ruled. The plaintiff "developed invasive breast cancer five years after she began taking Prempro, made by Pfizer's Wyeth unit," and the jury concluded that "Wyeth was at fault and is liable for the compensatory damages." Jurors stated that "Wyeth officials 'negligently failed to adequately warn'" the plaintiff's "doctors about Prempro's cancer risks and that failure played a role in the physician's decision to prescribe the drug."

Jury awards $5.5 million to widows of men who died of mesothelioma.

The Bloomington Pantagraph (10/22, Brady-Lunny) reports, "A McLean County jury awarded three widows $5.5 million Wednesday in a lawsuit alleging their husbands were exposed to asbestos at a Bloomington factory. Merlon Dukes, Bob Blessing and John Watkins worked at Union Asbestos & Rubber Co., later called UNARCO Industries Inc., during the 1950s and 1960s. The men died of the asbestos-related disease mesothelioma, according to claims filed in civil court." The jury "found that Honeywell International Inc, through its corporate predecessor Bendix, conspired with other companies, including UNARCO, Johns-Manville, Raybestos-Manhattan, Owens-Illinois, Owens Corning and Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., to fail to disclose information about the hazards of asbestos."

AAJ STATEMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE FINDINGS ON MALPRACTICE COSTS

Washington, DC--“Today’s Congressional Budget Office (CBO) findings reiterate what we’ve always known: that medical malpractice claims have almost no effect on overall health care spending. Along with the CBO’s numbers and countless other academic assessments, the vast majority of empirical evidence suggests that there are only miniscule savings to be found in reforming our nation’s civil justice system.

“Despite claims by tort reformers that the greatest cost of malpractice claims are borne by the public in the form of ‘defensive medicine,’ today’s analysis shows that at most, malpractice reform would provide savings of 0.3 percent in this area. In total, tort reform would provide a paltry 0.5 percent savings, while putting patients at risk.

“Indeed the CBO itself raised concerns that limiting patients’ legal rights could further jeopardize patient safety. In the final paragraph of its analysis, it states ‘recent research has found that tort reform may adversely affect [health] outcomes.’

“According to data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, malpractice claims make up just 0.3 percent of total health care costs. And we are confident that after weighing the totality of research on the subject, the public and Congress will see the truth: that limiting patients’ legal rights will do nothing to fix what ails our nation’s health care system.”

Florida mother awarded $330M after daughter's death in drunk-driving collision.

The St. Petersburg (FL) Times (10/1, Anderson) reported, "In what local court observers are calling one of the largest verdicts they can recall, a Hernando County [FL] jury on Wednesday awarded more than $330 million in civil damages to" Angela Stone, whose 13-year-old daughter, Shelby Taylor Hagman, was killed in 2007 by a drunk driver, Christopher Marcone. "Stone also has filed a wrongful death suit in Hillsborough against Kia Motors Corp. and a local auto dealer, claiming that a defective passenger restraint system - seat belt and shoulder harness - contributed to Shelby's fatal injuries." Stone's attorney, Steve Yerrid, said, "Kia is on notice. Because unlike Mr. Marcone, Kia has a lot more than $330 million. We'll see if they want to tussle."