Dr. Greenbean

Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — Two Pfizer Inc. units’ hormone- replacement therapy drugs caused an Illinois woman’s breast cancer, making them liable for at least $6.3 million in damages, a Philadelphia jury ruled today.

Jurors deliberated about five hours before finding that the combination of Wyeth’s Prempro and Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Provera menopause drugs was a substantial contributing factor in Donna Kendall’s breast cancer. Kendall, 66, had a double mastectomy in 2002 after taking the hormone-replacement drugs for 11 years.

The panel will hear evidence Nov. 23 on whether Wyeth and Upjohn should pay punitive damages over their handling of the drugs. Wyeth has lost six of nine jury verdicts, including the last four in a row, over the drugs since 2006. This is Upjohn’s third loss at the jury stage. A trial judge threw out one verdict and another is on appeal.

“We’ve very pleased with the compensatory verdict and we look forward to the jury hearing the rest of the case,” Tobi Millrood, an attorney for Kendall, said after the verdict was read.

“We are obviously disappointed with the verdict and will evaluate all of our legal options once the court completes its work in this case,” Pfizer spokesman Chris Loder said in an e- mailed statement.

Menopause Symptoms

More than 6 million women have taken hormone-replacement medicines to treat menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. Until 1995, many patients combined Premarin, Wyeth’s estrogen-based drug, with progestin-laden Provera, made by Upjohn.

Wyeth, which hasn’t reserved funds to cover losses in the litigation, later combined the two hormones in Prempro. The drugs are still on the market. New York-based Pfizer completed its $68 billion purchase of Wyeth Oct. 15.

Annual sales of Wyeth’s hormone-replacement drugs topped $2 billion before the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative study, sponsored by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, suggested women using the medicines had a higher breast-cancer risk.

Today’s verdict is the largest compensatory damage award handed down in cases tried in Philadelphia so far, Millrood said. It follows a $3.7 million award last month to another Illinois woman who blamed her breast cancer on Prempro.

While jurors also awarded Connie Barton punitive damages in her case, that award was sealed while the Kendall case was being tried in the same courthouse. People familiar with the verdict told Bloomberg News Nov. 5 the award was about $75 million.

‘Squeal Point’

Pfizer’s losses in Prempro cases may have company officials considering a global settlement proposal to resolve them, said David Logan, dean of the Roger Williams University Law School.

“There is definitely a squeal point for companies in these kinds of product-liability cases where they start thinking about settling,” Logan, who teaches classes on mass-tort law, said in an interview.

“When the trend starts running clearly against companies in these cases, and they keep getting pounded by juries, the issue of settlement become a popular topic in the boardroom,” he added.

In Kendall’s case, jurors concluded Wyeth and Upjohn officials failed to adequately warn Kendall’s doctors about the drugs’ cancer risks and that failure played a role in the physicians’ decision to prescribe the drugs.

The panel also found Wyeth’s and Upjohn’s conduct in marketing and selling the drugs was hiding health risks was “wanton and reckless.” That makes the companies open to a punitive-damage award under Pennsylvania law.

‘Reckless Indifference’

“An adequate warning would have made a difference,” Millrood said during his closing statements yesterday. The companies “had a reckless indifference to women in this country and a reckless indifference to Donna Kendall.”

At least 34 Prempro cases have been set for trial so far, and 19 have been thrown out by judges or withdrawn by plaintiffs, according to Pfizer officials. Wyeth also has settled at least five cases over the drugs.

The case is Kendall v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., 040600965, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.