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Jury Awards $134 Million Judgment against Drug Company
October 17, 2007

Three Nevada women were awarded $99 million in punitive damages by a Washoe County District Court jury on Monday in a lawsuit filed against pharmaceutical company Wyeth. This brings the total judgment to $134 million. The company has decided to appeal the judgment.

Jeraldine Scofield, 74, Arlene Rowatt, 67 and Pamela Forrester, 64, who had filed the suit alleging that use of Wyeth's hormone replacement drugs lead to their breast cancer, were awarded punitive damages of $33million, $31 million and $35 million respectively. These punitive damages were in addition to the $10.5 million, $12 million and $12.5 million awarded to the three Nevada women in compensatory damages last week. An amendment to the last week's figure of compensatory damages was incorporated by the Washoe District Judge Robert Perry as some of the jurors seemed to have erroneously included the punitive damages in the total of $134.5 before the punitive stage of the trial was actually held.

For Wyeth, a $14.6 billion company, this award against them is the largest so far. The Reno court case was one of almost 5,300 identical lawsuits pending against the company in various state and federal courts. All these cases relate to complaints against their drugs Premarin and Pempro - the first one an estrogen replacement and the other a combination of estrogen and progestin - both meant for administration in menopause related complications.

If you or some one close to you suffers because of defective or unsafe drugs, contact the personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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US Inquiry Leads to Intensifying of Drug Safety Warning
October 16, 2007

After a US inquiry into the safety of the drug Definity, a heart test drug manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., the company has announced that it will intensify warnings about the safety of the drug.

The Definity drug is a form of gas enclosed in a capsule that when released makes the borders of the heart clearer allowing doctors monitoring ultra sound images of the heart to rule out small clots and observe any abnormalities on the heart wall.

The drug's new alert warns that serious cardio pulmonary reactions have taken place in some users within 15 minutes of the administration of the drug. The new safety regulations regarding Definity have already been posted on the Food and Drug Administration's website and the FDA announced it was working with the company to alert health care professionals of the risks and approved prescription procedures to be followed before administration of the drug. The new safety warning is reflected in a black box on the FDA site, indicating the seriousness of the safety advice.

According to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. representatives, the changes in safety warnings have been made to facilitate more judicious use of the drug which they claim has huge beneficial medical effects if administered properly. The new safety warnings for Definity might help prevent adverse and possibly fatal reactions in patients who are administered the drug.

If you or a loved-one has been injured by a prescription or over the counter medication, contact the personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.

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