WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Pfizer Inc.’s appeal of a verdict in favor of an Arkansas woman who blames the company’s menopause drugs for her breast cancer, leaving intact a $2.7 million award.
The justices let stand a lower court decision upholding that award, which marked the first federal verdict against Pfizer’s Wyeth unit over its Prempro hormone-replacement treatment.
The appeal by Wyeth and another Pfizer unit sought to leverage a different part of the appeals court ruling ordering a new trial on punitive damages, which a jury had set at $27 million. Pfizer argued that the new trial should cover all aspects of the case, including the jury’s finding that the drugs helped cause Donna Scroggin’s cancer.
New York-based Pfizer, the world’s largest drugmaker, bought Wyeth last year in a $68 billion transaction.
Pfizer’s appeal in the Scroggin case centered on the Constitution’s Seventh Amendment, which guarantees the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases. In a separate line of argument, the company contended that the trial judge should have excluded the testimony of an oncologist who testified that the hormone treatments caused Scroggin’s cancer.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who owns Pfizer stock, did not take part in the consideration of the case.
The case is Wyeth v. Scroggin, 09-1123.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Thank you for coming to the Web site of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. We're working to keep you informed with the latest breaking news.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.