A jury in Nevada has awarded damages of $356 million against Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), to be paid to a patient who contracted hepatitis C after using Teva's propofol. Baxter International, the distributor of the drug, was ordered to pay a further $144 million, so that the total amount of damages comes to $500 million.
Teva claims that the evidence indicates that it acted responsibly, and the jury did not hear all the relevant evidence. The company has announced that it will appeal against the judgment. It says that if the plaintiff did contract hepatitis, it happened because of incorrect use of the drug, contrary to the instructions.
The case is the first of nearly 250 civil cases stemming from a hepatitis C outbreak related to use of propofol in endoscopy procedures at a clinic two years ago. The outbreak was apparently caused by administration of the drug to more than one patient from the same vial.
Separately, Teva has reached a settlement with Watson Pharmaceuticals in their dispute over contraceptive Seasonale, which became part of Teva's portfolio when it bought Barr. Teva sued Watson for patent infringement in its generic product Quasense. Under the settlement, Watson will sell its generic version under license from Teva.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 9, 2010
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