Judge declares mistrial, overturns Wyeth verdict

Last Updated: 2006-10-11 15:14:31 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wyeth on Wednesday said a Philadelphia judge granted its motion to declare a mistrial, overturning last week's verdict against the drug maker in a product liability suit involving one of its hormone replacement drugs.

A jury last week found that Wyeth's hormone replacement Prempro was a cause of a woman's breast cancer and awarded her $1 million and her husband $500,000 in compensatory damages.

With the declaration of mistrial that monetary award is set aside, Wyeth said.

The mistrial motion was unopposed by the plaintiff, Wyeth said, but it gave no details regarding the basis for the motion or the reasons for the ruling by judge Norman Ackerman, who presided over the trial.

The jury at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas was scheduled to begin a second phase of the trial on Thursday in which they were to determine Wyeth's liability and any punitive damages against the drug maker.

Had the jury found Wyeth had adequately warned of the drug's health risks, no damages would be payable, including the original monetary award.

The plaintiff, Jennie Nelson, 67, of Dayton, Ohio, took Prempro for about six years and blamed it for her breast cancer. The jury had deliberated for about 33 hours over six days before reaching its verdict.

In the first federal Prempro trial, a jury last month in Little Rock, Arkansas, found Wyeth was not negligent and had adequately warned patients and doctors of the cancer risk associated with the drug.

Wyeth is facing some 5,000 lawsuits involving its hormone replacement drugs.

Wyeth shares were down 36 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $51.29 on the New York Stock exchange