Pfizer faces legal battles in a couple of quarters, one set inherited from the newly acquired Wyeth. In the second Prempro development in three days, a Philadelphia jury reportedly gave $75 million in punitive damages to a woman who developed cancer after taking the hormone replacement therapy. The verdict had been sealed while another Prempro trial took place in the same courthouse.
News of the damages award comes as Pfizer won the right to a new damages trial in another Prempro case, in which the jury levied a punitive award of just $27 million. A previous damages award was reduced to $35 million from $99 million. Legal experts told Bloomberg that the latest verdict is vulnerable, too: "This is an award that is clearly marked for trouble," said Stetson University law professor Michael Allen, a punitive damages expert.
Meanwhile, as Pharmalot reports, the U.S. Supreme Court is mulling whether to allow Nigerian plaintiffs to sue Pfizer in its home country. As you know, Pfizer only just wrapped up a longstanding legal battle in Nigeria over the trial of an experimental meningitis remedy, Trovan. But a U.S. appeals court ruled that the plaintiffs could sue again in the U.S. Pfizer appealed. As the Supremes think it over, they asked the Justice Department to weigh in with its legal opinion.
- see the Bloomberg scoop
- read the post at Pharmalot
ALSO: New Pfizer, new logo: Post-merger with Wyeth, Pfizer's marketing experts have developed a new set of branding materials. Check them out at Brand News (hat tip PharmaGossip). Report