Wyeth ordered to pay $134.5 mln in hormone cases

Last Updated: 2007-10-11 15:05:43 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Nevada jury ordered Wyeth to pay a total of $134.5 million in compensatory damages to three women who blamed their breast cancer on the drugmaker's hormone replacement medicines.

The jury, which came to its decision late Wednesday afternoon after two days of deliberations, will next decide if Wyeth should also pay punitive damages in a hearing scheduled for Friday morning.

Each of the three plaintiffs -- Arlene Rowatt, Pamela Forrester and Jeraldine Scofield -- were awarded $7.5 million in past damages, a court official said. In addition, Rowatt and Scofield were awarded $36 million each for future damages, while Forrester was awarded $40 million.

The trial took place in Reno before Judge Robert Perry of the second judicial district court of Nevada, Washoe County.

The three women took Wyeth's hormone replacement drugs Prempro and/or Premarin, which have been linked to increased risk of breast cancer.

Wyeth declined to comment on the jury decision because the case was not yet complete.

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot)