Wyeth punitive damages proceed despite Pa. court ruling
Last Updated: 2007-01-30 16:00:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Jon Hurdle
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A judge on Tuesday agreed with Wyeth that there was insufficient evidence for a jury to find that the drugmaker acted recklessly in marketing its Prempro hormone replacement therapy, but allowed the punitive damage phase of the trial to proceed pending an appeal of the ruling.
However, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Myrna Field ordered that any punitive damage award will not be made public unless an appeals court overturns her ruling.
A jury on Monday found that Wyeth failed to properly warn about the cancer risks associated with Prempro and that the drug was responsible for plaintiff Mary Daniel's breast cancer. It awarded Daniel and her husband some $1.5 million in compensatory damages.
The jury also found that Wyeth's conduct was malicious or showed reckless indifference, a finding that under Pennsylvania law would send the jury back to determine additional punitive damages to be paid by the Madison, New Jersey-based company.
While Field ruled in Wyeth's favor, effectively setting aside that part of the jury's verdict -- a ruling that would limit Wyeth's liability to the $1.5 million -- she agreed to allow punitive damages deliberations to proceed under seal after Daniel's attorneys said they would appeal the ruling.
The judge accepted arguments by lawyers for the plaintiff that a decision by an appeals court to overturn her ruling would necessitate a new trial, and that to keep costs down the jury should be allowed to come up with a punitive damages figure that would be kept under wraps, but could be used by the appeals court if necessary.
Field said attorneys' arguments over the amount of punitive damages should be limited to the sales of Prempro in Pennsylvania and the national net worth of the company. Inclusion of sales of Premarin, a similar Wyeth hormone replacement drug, was not permitted, she said.
The judge rejected an argument by Daniel's attorney, Zoe Littlepage, that jurors should be allowed to consider sales of the drug throughout the United States.
Wyeth is facing about 5,000 lawsuits over the drug, which was used by millions of women to control the effects of menopause and remains on the market.
The current Prempro case is the third to have been tried. The company won the first and lost the second, although that suit is being retried after a Philadelphia judge threw out the verdict amid allegations of juror misconduct.
