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Fed court upholds Prempro verdict Friday, Feb 1, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A federal appeals court Thursday upheld a verdict in favor of New Jersey-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which had been sued by an Arkansas woman who claimed the company's hormone drugs caused breast cancer. Helene Rush of Little Rock filed the lawsuit in 2005, accusing the company of negligence in its Premarian and Prempro hormone replacement therapy. Following a lengthy trial last year, a federal jury concluded that Rush failed to prove that Wyeth inadequately warned consumers of the drugs' risk, that the drugs were defective in design, that Wyeth was negligent and that any of the company's actions caused her breast cancer. In her appeal, Rush argued the jury had received improper instructions from U.S. District Court Judge Bill Wilson, who had told the jury to assume that Rush used "ordinary care" in taking the drug. Attorneys for the drug company had said Rush did not use ordinary care because she did not read the information included with her prescription. Rush also argued in her appeal that Wilson allowed improper expert testimony for Wyeth, but did not allow expert testimony in her defense. In an 11-page opinion, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis said Wilson's instruction to the jury was not an abuse of discretion. "Even if giving the assumption of ordinary care instruction was erroneous ... this instruction did not affect Rush's substantial rights," the court said. "The instruction did not direct the jury to find Wyeth was not negligent if Rush did not read the warnings. "Instead, the instruction only explained Wyeth was not negligent in assuming Rush would read the warnings," the opinion said. "The jury could still have found Wyeth negligent and Wyeth's warning were adequate." As for allowing improper expert testimony for Wyeth and not allowing expert testimony on behalf of Rush, the federal appeals court said Wilson did not abuse his discretion on either decision. Both Premarian and Prempro remain on the market and have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. |
