Zoe Littlepage Analysis on Nevada Drug Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed by the Nevada attorney general claiming pharmaceutical giants Wyeth, Pfizer and Upjohn misled the public about the safety of their hormone therapy drugs must be heard in state court, not federal court, a federal judge has ruled.

The order is considered a win for the state, which filed suit in November, claiming the firms violated the Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act in the promotion and sale of drugs used to offset the effects of menopause.

The drug companies filed a motion to move the case to federal court, drawing objections from the attorney general’s office. On Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Las Vegas ordered the case be heard in state court.

Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said the company “will continue to defend itself vigorously in the Nevada action.”

“This suit is totally without merit,” he said. “The complaint simply recycles allegations that have been made in product liability lawsuits around the country over the past few years, which have generally been resolved in Wyeth’s favor.”

Peter Wetheral, a Nevada lawyer whose firm won a $58 million award against Wyeth for three Northern Nevada women who said the drugs caused their breast cancer, said this case is the first of its kind in the country.

While Wyeth faces thousands of lawsuits filed by women who claim they were injured by the hormone replacement drugs, this is the first case in which a state is suing the drug companies for fines and penalties, said Wetherall, who is helping the attorney general’s office with the case.

Wetherall said Hunt’s ruling is a victory for several reasons.

Having it heard in state court will allow the case to move along faster, he said. It also will allow a “more comprehensive investigation” of the drug companies’ actions under state law, and will enable Nevada judges, who are more familiar with the deceptive trade practices act, to decide the merits of the state’s case, he said.

“We think its an appropriate precedent that he set and hopefully will be for cases being pursued by the attorney general in the future,” Wetherall said. “Nevada claims should be evaluated under law.”

Wetherall said he expects the case to be back in state court in the next few weeks, and hopes to go to trial by the end of next year.

The Nevada lawsuit claims the drug companies’ promotion and sale of a list of hormone replacement drugs including Premarin, Prempro, Premphase and Provera minimized the risks and exaggerated the benefits of the hormone therapy drugs.

The companies said the drugs were safe and effective, the suit said, but “the reality is the exact opposite.” The suit said that published studies show that the warning labels provided by the companies for these drugs were “inadequate, misleading and inaccurate.”

Petkus said the claims are false and recent rulings support the company’s position.

“Of the 31 hormone therapy cases alleging breast cancer that have been resolved after being set for trial, 24 now have been resolved in the company’s favor,” Petkus said. “Of the remaining seven cases, four such cases have been settled.”

Wyeth has appealed the $58 million award in the 2007 case.

BY MARTHA BELLISLE rgj.com

Scott discusses the ruling with Zoe Littlepeage. (Littlepage,Booth) in Houston