New Damages Trial For Wyeth In Ark. Hormones Case

TOM PARSONS

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Wyeth Pharmaceuticals will get a new trial to determine if the drugmaker should pay punitive damages to a woman who got breast cancer after taking hormone replacement therapy, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis ruled on an appeal by the woman, who sued Wyeth and drugmaker Upjohn Co., and an appeal by the two companies.

An Arkansas jury had sided with Donna Scroggin in her lawsuit against Wyeth and Upjohn, awarding her $2.75 million in compensatory damages and $27 million in punitive damages in February 2008. Jurors concluded Wyeth inadequately warned the Little Rock woman that its drugs Premarin and Prempro carried an increased risk of breast cancer. The suit also involved Upjohn's Provera, an estrogen-only drug.

U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson struck down the punitive damages award in July 2008, saying certain testimony from former Food and Drug Administration official Dr. Suzanne Parisian, who was the plaintiff's regulatory expert, shouldn't have been allowed at trial.

Monday's ruling by a three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the jury's compensatory damage award, but also upheld Wilson's decision that Upjohn should not have to pay punitive damages. However, the appeals court said a new trial must be held to determine if Wyeth should pay them.