A Las Vegas jury has issued a third punitive-damage verdict against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) for selling large reusable vials of the anesthetic Propofol, which allegedly caused hepatitis in a colonoscopy patient. The jury awarded the patient, Michael Washington, $90 million, $60 million to be paid by Teva and the rest by Baxter. He previously won $14 million in compensatory damages. The award brings the punitive damages to $752 million.
Teva unit Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corporation sold Propofol in vials large enough to be reused by doctors.
On October 10, a different Las Vegas jury awarded three colonoscopy patients more than $162 million in punitive damages over the companies’ Propofol marketing practices. The first jury in the affair awarded patients $500 million.
Teva spokeswoman Denise Bradley said in response, “We believe that the allegations against Teva are without merit and we plan to appeal this decision."
The defendants' lawyers allege that Teva intentionally sold Propofol in oversized vials to encourage doctors to reuse them, even with the risk of spreading blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Teva says that it faces almost 300 lawsuits stemming from a hepatitis outbreak in southern Nevada.
Teva and Baxter contended that improperly sanitized medical equipment, not reused Propofol containers, were to blame for the hepatitis outbreak and drugmakers shouldn’t be held responsible for colonoscopy clinics’ shoddy medical practices. Lawyers for Teva and Baxter had urged jurors to forgo punitive damages, saying the companies’ Propofol marketing tactics weren’t “despicable.” The jury rejected the argument.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 16, 2011
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