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Pfizer to Pay $103 Million in Product Liability Punitive Damages to Women Who Developed Cancer

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will pay $103 million in punitive damages to two women who developed breast cancer after the use of hormonal drugs. A verdict of $28 million for one of the women was announced by a jury in Philadelphia on Monday. In the other case, the victim had earlier received $75 million. The $75 million judgment had been sealed to avoid influencing the second jury.

The lawsuits were the result of Pfizer’s acquisition of Wyeth and Pharmacia, that sold the drugs to be used as hormone therapy by menopausal woman. Wyeth makes the estrogen Premarin, and Prempro, which is a combination of estrogen and progestin. Pharmacia made Provera, which is the progestin hormone combined with estrogen.

The drugs were used until fears begin to arise that long term hormone therapy could increase the risk of developing cancer. According to lawyers for one of the two women, this verdict is only “the tip of the iceberg.” Pfizer currently has at least 1,500 product liability lawsuits against it, all related to the hormone treatment drug, and all filed in the same Philadelphia court. The lawsuits have been filed in Philadelphia, because it’s Wyeth’s headquarters. Lawyers say that there are more than 10,000 lawsuits filed around the country.

According to lawyers, in lawsuits that have gone to trial before jury, women who developed breast cancer have won damages in 10 out of 12 cases. However, many of these are on appeal.  Making the path to justice smoother for women who have been gravely injured by the use of these drugs, is an appeals court decision in St. Louis this month. A panel of a federal appeals court overturned a $27 million award for 1st woman because of improper testimony by experts. However, the court ordered a new trial on punitive damages, saying that there was enough reason to believe that a jury might find Wyeth behaved with reckless disregard. Pfizer is already asking the panel to review that decision.

Hormonal treatment drugs continue to be used across the country by millions of women, to treat menopausal symptoms. But in 2002, the Food and Drug Administration required black box warnings on the drug’s labeling, asking that the drugs be used at “smallest possible doses for the shortest possible time”. That came after a study in 2002 that showed that estrogen therapy could cause the development of breast cancer.  Sales of hormone treatment drugs, which were more than $2 billion before the study linking breast cancer to estrogen came out, dropped dramatically after the FDA warning. However, since then, sales have stabilized somewhat, and continue to place millions of women at risk of development of breast cancer.

Punitive damages are awarded in exceptional circumstances, where a California product liability lawyer can prove that a defendant behaved with reckless disregard. These damages are also called exemplary damages, because they are awarded not so much to compensate the victim for her suffering, but to make an example of the defendant. Punitive damages are meant to work as a deterrent to other people who may be willing to behave recklessly.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of product liability. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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