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BRENT COON & ASSOCIATES WINS MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT AGAINST WYETH AND UPJOHN (PFIZER)

March 2008 – Little Rock - A Little Rock jury found that Premarin used with Provera and Prempro caused Little Rock plaintiff Donna Scroggin’s breast cancer. Wyeth, Inc. and Upjohn, a division of Pfizer were ordered to pay $2.7 million in compensatory damages and $19.36 Million (Wyeth) $7 million in punitive damages (Upjohn) for a total of roughly $26 million.

This was the 8th verdict in a row against the Defendants and the first in the Federal MDL court. Ms. Scroggin’s attorney, James A. Morris Jr., of Brent Coon and Associates, is the first attorney in the nation to take a verdict in the Federal Multi District Litigation Court (MDL) for the hormone therapy litigation against Wyeth and Upjohn (Pfizer). This is the 7th win for the plaintiffs against Wyeth nationally and the second jury verdict in a row against Upjohn (Pfizer) in the two national trials involving Upjohn (Pfizer). In eight of the ten trials on hormone therapy to date, the jury has returned a verdict agreeing that HRT causes breast cancer and that the labeling was inadequate.

Mr. Morris stated, "A jury has once again found that Prempro, Premarin and Provera cause breast cancer. The tragedy is that 17,500 excess breast cancers per year for 20 years were caused by these drugs. You do the math. Sadly, the companies will not accept personal responsibility. Any stock analyst who thinks the thousands of victims are simply going to walk away from this litigation uncompensated are sorely mistaken. We intend to carry on the fight and obtain just compensation. On behalf of Ms. Scroggin, we are pleased that the jury appreciated the strong evidence supporting this case."

Donna Scroggin of Little Rock, AK brought the case seeking to hold responsible both Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:WYE) and Upjohn (owned by Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)) for their insufficient labels on their hormone therapy products Premarin, Prempro (Wyeth) and Provera (Pfizer). James A. Morris, Jr. and Steve M. Faries, of the Austin office of Brent Coon & Associates, a national law firm, and Erik Walker of Hissey and Kientz represented Donna Scroggin in this trial against Wyeth and Upjohn.

After roughly twelve hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict on February 25, 2008 of $2.7 million in compensatory damages. About one week later, the jury returned to consider Wyeth and Upjohn’s (Pfizer) recklessly indifferent conduct and again held them again liable ordering Wyeth to $19.36 million and Upjohn to pay $7 million for their respective behavior.

Scroggin took hormone replacement therapy from 1989-2000 and discontinued use of the drugs when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000. Ms. Scroggin, who sat in the courtroom throughout the trial, was pleased the jury recognized Wyeth and Upjohn's negligent conduct and inadequate warnings.

Morris commented, “We believe this verdict is a critical step forward for women’s health. We continue to be committed to trying these cases and representing the victims of dangerous prescription drugs.

 

HRT, or Hormone Replacement Therapy, is a therapy involving a series of drugs used to treat the adverse symptoms involved with menopause. In recent years, HRT treatment has been medically linked to increased risk to Breast Cancer. Some of the treatments involved in HRT include Premarin, Prempro (Wyeth) and Provera (Pfizer). In recent studies have shown that woman who take these treatments are at higher risk for Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Heart Attack, Stroke and Blood Clots.

If you or a loved one has received Hormone Replacement Therapy and are suffering from any of these symptoms, please contact the Attorneys of Brent Coon and Associates for a Free Case Evaluation.