The website, Pharmalot, which reports on the pharmaceutical industry, reported Monday morning, October 3, a federal court jury decided that the osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, should not be blamed for something called jaw death. A woman had sued Merck, the maker of Fosamax, claiming the drug giant concealed the drug’s risks and that the drug had a flawed design.
This trial against Fosamax was called a bellwether trial used as the basis for similar cases waiting in the wings. Many women who take bisphosphonates to reduce bone loss which leads to osteoporosis, claim the drugs interrupt the bone recycling process in the body and leave behind bad bone that dies or tends to break. Attorneys were looking at this case to evaluate similar cases to determine future strategies. Pharmalot reports as of June, there were 1,650 lawsuits in the pipeline including more than 2,000 groups of plaintiffs filed in federal and state courts.
This is just the latest in a series of setbacks for consumers injured by Fosamax. A former United Airlines flight attendant from Florida who used Fosamax from 1998 to 2005 was told she could not pursue punitive damages against Merck for failing to adequately warn the public about the possible side effects of the drug.
An earlier ruling found the plaintiff could not establish that Merck intentionally concealed risks from consumers. However, in that case, Merck did lose that lawsuit based on design defect.
In three other earlier actions against Merck, the company won the first case, the second ended in a mistrial in September 2009 and Merck lost a retrial in 2010. The plaintiff won an $8 million award which was reduced. Merck is appealing. The drug giant won the third case last November.
Product Liability Law
Under product liability law, a product must be defective in its manufacture, its design, or in failing to warn the public about dangers that can cause injury. It takes an experienced Florida product liability legal team to pursue these actions. Not only do they help consumers, but they send a clear message to manufacturers that they must put out a product that does not harm the public, no matter how profitable it is.
Farah & Farah is always available for a consultation on your defective product case. Call us at 1-800-533-3555 so we can begin the conversation.
Source: http://www.pharmalot.com/
