$134 million awarded in breast cancer suit

RENO, Nev. – A jury levied a $134.5 million judgment against pharmaceutical giant Wyeth in a lawsuit filed by three Nevada women who claimed the company’s hormone replacement drugs caused their breast cancer.

It was the largest award to date against the Madison, N.J.-based company, which faces about 5,300 similar lawsuits across the country in state and federal courts.

“These are very large numbers for compensatory damages,” said Howard Erichson, a law professor at Seton Hall University. “It has to be troubling for Wyeth because dollar figures like these suggest the jury entirely accepted the plaintiff’s version of the story and was not kindly disposed to Wyeth at all.”

All the lawsuits involve the drugs Premarin, an estrogen replacement, and Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin. The drugs are prescribed to women to ease symptoms of menopause.

The Reno panel deliberated for two days before announcing its verdict late Wednesday in favor of Jeraldine Scofield, 75, of Fallon; Arlene Rowatt, 67, of Incline Village; and Pamela Forrester, 64, of Yerington.

The same five-man, two-woman jury will return to the courtroom today to consider punitive damages against the drug maker.

Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus on Thursday said the company would have no comment because the case was not finished.