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UPDATE 2-US jury awards $2.5 mln
in
Roche Accutane trial
Link
to Original Reuters Artricle
(Adds jurors, attorney, company comment)
By Jon Hurdle
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., May 29 (Reuters)
- A New Jersey jury on Tuesday found that Swiss drugmaker
Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) failed to adequately warn
a patient of the bowel disease risks associated with
its potent acne medicine Accutane and awarded him $2.5
million in damages.
The jury, during its third day of deliberations,
also found that the failure to warn was a major contributing
cause of his contracting the bowel disease and awarded
the plaintiff an additional $119,000 to cover medical
expenses.
The trial was the first of about 400 U.S.
lawsuits involving Accutane, which has been on the market
since 1982.
Roche, which runs its U.S. operation out
of Nutley, New Jersey, said it believes it has significant
grounds to appeal the verdict and intends to pursue
them.
"Notwithstanding the verdict, the
cause of inflammatory bowel disease remains unknown
and there is no reliable scientific evidence that Accutane
causes inflammatory bowel disease," the company
said in a statement, adding that the medicine's label
has contained a bowel disease warning for more than
20 years.
In considering New Jersey state consumer
fraud charges, the jury in New Jersey Superior Court
found for Roche, saying the company did not misrepresent
or conceal Accutane's bowel risks prior to June 1995.
Andrew McCarrell, a 36-year-old computer
manager from Alabama, said he had undergone multiple
surgeries, including having his colon removed, after
taking the drug in 1995. His symptoms included chronic
diarrhea and incontinence, according to court documents.
"It's a huge result for the broader
litigation," McCarrell's attorney David Buchanan
said. "It bodes well for the 400 other Accutane
cases."
McCarrell, who has three children ages
10 months to 7 years old, said after the verdict that
he will now be able to afford better medical treatment
and to take time off from work, unpaid if necessary,
to deal with his condition.
"I'm ecstatic," he told reporters.
"I hope this means
(other plaintiffs) will finally get some
justice. They deserve it just as much as I do.
"Hopefully, this will just be the
start of getting them some relief," McCarrell said.
Jurors interviewed following the verdict
said they believed Roche should have done more testing
of the drug after it was on the market and before McCarrell
began using the medicine.
"We would like to send a message
to Roche to clearly do further testing and evaluation,"
said Cynthia Spivey, a 45-year-old casino worker. "They
should have done way more testing in 11 years,"
she said.
Mark Schoettler, 48, said the jury had
agreed there was no consumer fraud because there did
not seem to be a deliberate attempt by the company to
deceive or conceal the nature of the product. "It
was benign neglect, not malice," he said.
Roche shares were down 0.35 percent in
Europe.
((Reporting by Jon Hurdle, writing by
Bill Berkrot, editing by Gerald E. McCormick; Reuters
Messaging: bill.berkrot.reuters.com@reuters.net phone
646 223-6030)) Keywords: ROCHE ACCUTANE/
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