The jury found that Wyeth provided inadequate warnings on its drug Prempro and that the drug caused invasive breast cancer in Jennie Nelson, a 67-year-old Ohio woman. The jury awarded damages to Mrs Nelson of $2.4 million and an additional $600,000 to her husband.
New jersey-based Wyeth plans to appeal the decision. Barbara Binis, a partner with Reed Smith LLP, a firm representing Wyeth in the case, said: “We respectfully disagree that there is any scientific basis to support the jury’s finding of a causal link between Wyeth’s hormone therapies and the plaintiff’s breast cancer.”
More than 5,000 women have sued Wyeth over its hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro. Wyeth has won two cases and lost two cases, which have been heard in Arkansas and Philadelphia.