Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) has ended production of the anesthetic Propofol. In May, a jury in Nevada has awarded damages of $356 million to a patient who contracted hepatitis C after using the drug.
Teva intends to appeal the ruling, and believes that it has a strong case to overturn the judgment.
This was not the first case involving Propofol. Last summer, media reports claim that it was one of the drugs found at the home of the late singer Michael Jackson.
Teva also recalled some batches of Propofol after contaminants were discovered. The company said that the Propofol found in Jackson's home was not one of problem batches.
A few weeks ago, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that in December 2009 it sent a warning letter to Teva about flaws in its production of the anesthetic.
Teva's share price fell 1.6% on Friday to $52.84, giving a market cap of $48.95 billion. The share price fell 0.4% by mid-afternoon on the TASE today to NIS 208.70.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 30, 2010
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