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Litigation

Wyeth Wins 4th Prempro MDL Bellwether Trial

JONESBORO, Ark. - (Mealey's) An Arkansas federal jury on Oct. 19 said a plaintiff did not prove that Wyeth inadequately warned her and her doctor that the hormone replacement therapy drug Prempro could cause breast cancer (In re:  Prempro Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1507, No. 03-cv-1507, Margaret Wilson, et al. v. Wyeth Inc., et al., No. 05-cv-0078, E.D. Ark.).

The jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, where the Prempro multidistrict litigation is centralized, answered "no" to the first question:  "Have Plaintiffs proven by the greater weight of evidence that Wyeth inadequately warned about a known or knowable risk of Prempro?"

The jury did not have to answer the next question about whether plaintiff Margaret Wilson and her husband, Billy, proved that the failure to warn proximately caused Margaret Wilson's breast cancer or how much money would fairly compensate them for their damages.

The plaintiffs alleged that Wyeth failed to investigate the breast cancer risk of Prempro and failed to adequately warn doctors and patients of that risk.  Wyeth, now owned by Pfizer Inc., argued that Margaret Wilson had several risk factors for breast cancer and that during the time she took Prempro, the label specifically warned about the breast cancer risk.

The trial began Oct. 1 and lasted 11 days.  The jury began deliberating Oct. 19 and returned its verdict the same day.

[Editor's Note:  Full coverage will be in the Oct. 21 issue of Mealey's Emerging Drugs & Devices.  In the meantime, the verdict form and jury instructions are available at www.mealeysonline.com or by calling the Customer Support Department at 1-800-833-9844.  Verdict form. Document #28-101021-022V.  Jury instructions. Document #28-101021-023J.  For all of your legal news needs, please visit www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys.]

Download the documents now:

Mealeysonline.com - Document #28-101021-022V 

Mealeysonline.com - Document #28-101021-023J 

For more information, call editor Tom Moylan at 610-205-1120, or e-mail him at tom.moylan@lexisnexis.com.