The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has upheld Arkansas district court decisions in a products liability case against pharmaceutical companies that are the makers of hormone therapy drugs that, combined, have been linked to breast cancer.
In Donna Scroggin, v. Wyeth, and its divisions; Pharmacia & Upjohn Company L.L.C., (Case Nos: 08-2555, 08-2711 and 08-2713) on appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, the plaintiff sued the companies for failing to warn her that taking combinations of estrogen and progestin hormone therapy drugs manufactured by the defendants would put her at risk for breast cancer, which she developed 11 years after she began taking the drugs.
Wyeth and Upjohn appealed the district court jury verdict that found the companies liable and awarded compensatory damages, as well as the subsequent award of punitive damages. They argued that Scroggin’s claim was preempted by federal drug labeling requirements, that she waited too long to file her claim and the statute of limitations had run out, and that she failed to prove that the combination of hormone therapy drugs caused her condition.
Wyeth and Upjohn had argued that “the evidence was not sufficient to show that an adequate warning would have prevented Scroggin’s breast cancer,” according to 8th Circuit opinion. The Court, however, found that the plaintiff had presented “evidence on specific and proximate causation sufficient to support the jury’s verdict finding Wyeth and Upjohn liable for her injuries.” It affirmed the verdict and the compensatory damages award. The panel also found that the defendants had shown no evidence that “the FDA would not have permitted the strengthening of the labels” of the hormone drugs “in a manner consistent with Arkansas law.”
In addition, the 8th Circuit ruled that because the plaintiff’s “claim did not accrue until the publication of a study by the Women’s Health Initiative linking hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer,” it was not barred by the Arkansas statute of limitations.
The 8th Circuit Court relieved Upjohn of punitive damages but with respect to Wyeth, remanded the matter for a new trial on punitive damages.
Topics Legislation Arkansas
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