Pfizer Ordered to Pay $9.45 Million to Victim Following Defective Drug Case

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, now part of Pfizer, has been ordered to pay $6 million in punitive damages to an Alabama woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer after taking the company’s menopausal drugs. This latest ruling brings the total award in the case to $9.45 million.

A Philadelphia jury reached the verdict in mere minutes following closing arguments; this after awarding compensatory damages of $3.5 million and $200,000 to the woman’s husband last week for loss of consortium.

According to the lawsuit, popular HRT drug Prempro was one of the causes of Audrey Singelton’s breast cancer. The retired school bus driver was on the medication for seven years before she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.

The verdict is Wyeth’s seventh loss in 10 cases to have gone before a jury. According to the latest court documents more than 1,500 cases are still pending.

A 2002 study linked Prempro to cancer in women. However, despite this shocking revelation, plaintiff attorneys say Wyeth knowingly failed to inform consumers of the devastating side effects associated with its product. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did not pull the drug off the market.

Evidence viewed by the jury included an internal letter from Charles H. Payne, a Wyeth manager in Alabama, who wrote that “the desire for increased sales has overruled our company’s ethical responsibility to promote our products safely.”

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with breast cancer after taking Prempro, please call AWKO Law at (888) 255 – 2956 immediately. You may be eligible to receive damages for your medical bills as well as pain and suffering. AWKO attorneys, Florida’s top defective drug lawyers, are ready to represent you.