In the past two years Pfizer has been whacked with a series of large punitive damages awards in lawsuits claiming that its hormone replacement drugs cause breast cancer. One of the largest of those punitive damages awards was a $75 million award against Wyeth (which Pfizer acquired in October 2009) in a Philadelphia case involving $3.7 million in compensatory damages.
The Legal Intelligencer reports that the trial judge reduced that punitive damages award to $5.6 million, roughly 1.5 times the amount of the compensatory damages award. The plaintiffs plan to appeal.
So far, Pfizer’s lawyers have been pretty successful in reducing the big punitive damages awards in these cases, but they haven’t been able to knock them out entirely. They got a $27 million punitive damages award in Arkansas vacated and remanded for a new trial, and a $99 million award cut down to $35 million in Nevada.
Related posts:
More Punitive Damages Against Pfizer in Prempro Litigation: Philadelphia Jury Awards $28 million
A Mixed Bag For Pfizer On Prempro Punitive Damages
Jury Awards Undisclosed Amount of Punitive Damages Against Pfizer in Prempro Litigation
Arkansas District Court Vacates $27 Million Punitive Damages Award Against Wyeth and UpJohn
Nevada Judge Cuts $99 Million Punitive Damages Award Against Wyeth