Wyeth to Challenge Nevada Menopause Drug Suit Verdict

A panel of Nevada jurors on Friday awarded millions of dollars in punitive damages to three Nevada women who claimed that hormone-replacement drugs distributed by pharmaceutical giant Wyeth had caused their breast cancer.

In a ruling on Oct. 12, the panel levied a $35 million judgment against the Madison, New Jersey-based company in a lawsuit filed by three Nevada women- Arlene Rowatt, Jeraldine Scofield and Pamela Forrester- who claimed they developed breast cancer after taking Wyeth’s hormone replacement therapies Prempro and Premarin. The medications are prescribed to women to ease symptoms of menopause.

Jurors in state court in Reno ruled that the company owed the women $35.1 million in compensatory damages, and also ordered Wyeth, the largest maker of hormone- replacement medicines, to pay $99 million in punitive damages for concealing the breast-cancer risks of its two drugs, Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin and Premarin, an estrogen replacement.

Initially, Wyeth was ordered to pay out $134.5 million in compensation, but the figure later was reduced to $35 million. In the wake of questions about whether the judgment included punitive damages, Washoe District Judge Robert Perry instructed the five-man, two-woman jury to reconsider the judgment and ultimately slashed $100 million from the previous levied awards.

Under the new judgment, Scofield, 74 of Fallon receives $33 million awards in addition to the $10.5 million in compensatory damages, and Forrester, 65, of Yerington gets $35 million along with $12.5 million. Arlene Rowatt, 67, of Incline Village, gets $31 million in punitive damages Monday in addition to the $12 million she was awarded in compensatory damages last week.

The pharmaceutical company is already facing 5,300 similar lawsuits brought on behalf of 7,900 women in various federal and state courts nationwide, involving the same two drugs. The plaintiffs claim of breast cancer, stroke, ovarian cancer and heart disease, allegedly resulting from their use of the conjugated oestrogens Prempro or Premarin.

Meanwhile, the drug company has confirmed its plans to appeal the verdict in the Scofield, Rowatt and Forrester v. Wyeth cases in the Second Judicial District Court in Reno, Nevada.

Objecting to the $99 million it has been told to pay in damages and calling the award "an aberration", Lawrence Stein, Wyeth’s senior vice president and general counsel, said that "this flawed verdict is the result of a trial riddled with errors.”

“The events of last week and the confusion surrounding the jury’s deliberations only confirm our view that this verdict will not survive on appeal,” he added.

Wyeth has described itself on its Website as one of the world's largest research-driven pharmaceutical and health care products companies. It is a leader in the discovery, development, manufacturing, and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology products and nonprescription medicines that improve the quality of life of people worldwide. The Company's major divisions include Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, and Fort Dodge Animal Health.