LITTLE ROCK — A federal jury resumes deliberations at 9 this morning over a Conway nurse’s claim that makers of the hormone drug Prempro didn’t adequately disclose to doctors the medication’s cancer risk, which she says contributed to her developing breast cancer.
The 10 men and women who have heard evidence for two weeks in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Bill Wilson deliberated about 5 1/2 hours Thursday without reaching a verdict.
A juror’s question about what would happen if the panel cannot agree on a verdict left Wilson and the attorneys preparing for how to encourage jurors to try to overcome any deadlock if they indicate they cannot agree on a verdict.
Barbara Lewis sued drug makers Wyeth and Upjohn, claiming the companies, now subsidiaries of Pfizer Inc., had failed to sufficiently disclose the drug’s risks.
She used the prescription medication for seven years beginning in 1995 to alleviate symptoms of menopause. Her cancer was diagnosed in 2003. She sued in 2006.
In instructing the jury Thursday on how to consider the evidence, Wilson said that for Lewis to win her case, she must convince them on two issues: first, that the warnings provided to doctors for Prempro and its component medications, Premarin and Provera, were not enough to ensure the physicians knew the risks; secondly, that Lewis would not have gotten cancer if the medications had not been prescribed to her.
A product warning is considered inadequate if the manufacturer’s warning is not sufficient for a reasonable doctor to understand the drug’s risk, Wilson told the jurors.
The manufacturer’s warning should disclose all known risks of the medication, the judge said, so a physician can decide whether to prescribe it.
Wilson said drug makers are not required to warn doctors about dangers that are obvious or which doctors should be reasonably expected to know about.
The law requires drug makers to instruct doctors about how to use a medication safely, but it does not require the companies to warn patients directly about the risks, Wilson said.
The jury must find in favor of Wyeth and Upjohn if jurors believe the evidence shows that Lewis, before being diagnosed with breast cancer, was aware of the dangers of the three medications, Wilson said.
Even if the jurors decide the warnings were inadequate, the judge said, they can still rule in favor of the drug manufacturers, if the companies can prove that Lewis’ doctors still would have prescribed the medications, even if adequate warnings had been given.
In six trials over Prempro in Little Rock since 2006, a plaintiff has won only once, four years ago.
In the most recent trial, another federal jury in August rejected the claims of a Hot Springs Village woman that Prempro caused her cancer, although jurors agreed with her that the drug makers’ warnings were deficient.
Arkansas, Pages 12 on 12/21/2012