Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Mona Shield Payne/Special to the Sun
Henry and Lorraine Chanin share a glance during a press conference following an award of $500 million in punitive damages Friday, May 7, 2010.
By Cara McCoy 
Published Friday, May 7, 2010 | 12:12 p.m.
Updated Friday, May 7, 2010 | 7:36 p.m.
Sun Coverage
Sun Archives
- Attorney seeking $1 billion in hepatitis C case (5-6-2010)
- Jury finds drugmakers liable in first hepatitis C trial (5-5-2010)
- Jurors to resume hepatitis C deliberations Wednesday (5-4-2010)
- Deliberations continue in first hepatitis C case to reach trial (5-3-2010)
- Jury deliberates in first hepatitis C case to reach trial (4-30-2010)
- Expert: Hepatitis C victim suffered multi-million dollar damages (4-27-2010)
- Man recounts hepatitis C’s effect on health, family (4-26-2010)
- Opening arguments begin in first hepatitis C case to reach trial (4-19-2010)
- Jurors chosen in first hepatitis C case to reach trial (4-15-2010)
- Jury selection begins in first hepatitis C case to reach trial (4-12-2010)
- Insurance company wants cap on payments in hepatitis C cases (2-10-2010)
- Proposed settlements at issue in endoscopy case (1-5-2010)
- Thoroughness, not haste, key in probe of clinic’s insurance billing practices (1-2-2010)
For Henry and Lorraine Chanin, the lawsuit they filed after Henry contracted hepatitis C during a colonoscopy was never about the money. Instead, they say it’s been about getting two giant companies to change their ways.
“Five-hundred million dollars is an unimaginable sum of money for an individual,” Henry Chanin said Friday after a jury awarded him and his wife half a billion dollars in punitive damages.
“This was to tell the … two companies that made a combined $13 or $14 billion dollars that it wasn’t going to be pocket change for them to make right what happened here in Las Vegas. It’s exactly what was needed.”
The Chanins sued Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corp. after Henry Chanin contracted hepatitis C at Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center, one of the clinics linked to the outbreak of the disease discovered after a 2008 investigation by the Southern Nevada Health District. That investigation linked the reuse of vials of the anesthetic propofol to the spread of the disease.
Thousands of Las Vegans were notified they should undergo testing for hepatitis, HIV and AIDS.
Robert Eglet, who represents Henry, and Will Kemp, who represents Lorraine, argued throughout the four-week district court trial that the jumbo-sized vials of propofol encouraged reuse, leading to contamination and infection.
They argued the 50-milliliter vials had no place in endoscopy centers, where a fraction of that amount is required for the routine procedures performed there.
The jury agreed, and on Wednesday found both companies liable for failure to warn and for breach of warranty. They awarded more than $5 million in compensatory damages. They also agreed that punitive damages were warranted, ultimately deciding during deliberations Friday that Teva Parenteral Medicines should pay $356 million and Baxter Healthcare Corp. should pay $144 million.
Eglet said $500 million is the largest amount for punitive damages ever to be awarded in Nevada.
Eglet, Kemp and the Chanins discussed the case Friday afternoon during a news conference at the law offices of Mainor Eglet Cottle.
“This case has always been about trying to get these drug companies to do the right thing and stop selling these jumbo-sized vials of propofol to these endoscopy centers where they know -- and they’ve known for over a decade -- that they’re going to multi-dose multiple patients out of them,” Eglet said.
Henry Chanin said he and his wife had initially been reluctant to pursue the lawsuit, but the seriousness of his ordeal prompted them to take action.
“If we didn’t come forward and we didn’t pursue some kind of action, we weren’t doing all we could to make sure that what happened to me doesn’t happen to anybody else,” he said.
Hepatitis C can lead to liver disease, including cirrhosis or liver cancer. Henry Chanin said his hepatitis was controlled after weeks of treatment similar to chemotherapy, which made the virus inactive. He said the treatments, which were grueling, reduced his stamina and have caused lingering joint pain.
There is a 5 percent chance the disease could again become active, meaning he could get sicker and could also infect his wife. The husband and wife both testified they had ceased having intimate relations after Henry contracted the disease.
Henry Chanin is the headmaster at The Meadows School founded by Carolyn Goodman, who testified on his behalf at the trial. The nonprofit private school in the northwest valley serves students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Goodman is the wife of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.
Eglet said that earlier this year he approached the drug companies with a proposed settlement of $1.7 million, but the offer was ignored.
“This was never about getting a giant sum of money, but it ended up that way because they forced us to go to trial,” he said. “And hopefully now they will hear what this Las Vegas jury had to say and do the right thing.”
Kemp said the drug companies knew about 148 cases of hepatitis linked to propofol before Henry Chanin underwent the colonoscopy and didn’t do anything to warn medical professionals.
“They gave no warning to doctors, gave no warning to nurses, and that’s why we have all these outbreaks (in) eight different countries, 11 different institutions around the world,” he said.
He said the verdict should send a message to Teva, which makes 400 other drugs and is the world’s largest generic drug manufacturer, that it needs to focus on drug safety.
“What this jury has done may be the most important thing any jury anywhere has ever done for drug safety in the history of the United States,” he said.
Chanin called trial lawyers the last set of checks and balances on consumer safety.
Attorney Robert Eglet congratulates Henry Chanin on Friday after jurors awarded $500 million in punitive damages.
He said this case was evidence that government agencies don’t do enough to protect the average consumer.
“I think like many citizens, I look at frivolous lawsuits, I say we need reforms and so on and so forth,” he said. “Well, it’s a little different when you’re the victim.”
“There are probably multiple parties in the system who were at fault for something like this happening -- certainly, the medical professionals didn’t do the best job. But no clinic owners, no nurses, no doctors, are moving from city to city around the world causing these outbreaks. The one thing that these outbreaks have in common are these weapons of mass infection.”
In closing arguments, “weapons of mass infection” was a term Eglet used to describe the vials of propofol to the jury.
Teva spokeswoman Denise Bradley said in a statement released after the verdict Friday that the company is reviewing the judgment. The company acted responsibly, she said, adding that labels clearly state the drug is for single-patient use.
“Teva believes that the evidence clearly showed that if the plaintiff contracted hepatitis as alleged, it was because a properly labeled product was blatantly misused at the clinic in question,” Bradley said. “Teva believes that there are numerous grounds for appeal, and plans to contest the verdict vigorously.”
Jurors weren’t allowed to hear all the evidence in the case, she said.
Baxter spokeswoman Erin Gardiner echoed Bradley’s sentiments and said the company also was planning an appeal.
"This was a case of product misuse related to unsafe clinical practices as opposed to an issue with a widely used and clearly labeled product," she said via e-mail late Friday afternoon. "Jurors were not allowed to hear a number of compelling facts related to unsafe clinical practice at the root of the issue — such as the reuse of syringes on multiple patients and reusing clearly labeled single-dose vials multiple times. We expect this verdict will be successfully appealed."
Jury forewoman Celeste Williams, 34, said many of the jurors, including herself, wanted to award more than $500 million.
"It was difficult to assess an amount to make someone wake up and make a change," Williams said. She said some jurors feared an award of $1 billion might be appealed.
A higher amount was assigned to Teva because Baxter stopped distributing the drug in 2007, she said.
A poster illustrating 148 hepatitis cases linked to the drug Propofol hangs behind Henry and Lorraine Chanin during their press conference following an award of $500 million in punitive damages Friday, May 7, 2010.
In arguments Thursday, Eglet had asked jurors to award more than $1 billion. He said the companies made a combined $13.5 billion in 2009 and argued that a substantial award was necessary to hit them hard enough they would change their ways.
He compared the companies’ profits to the annual salary of an average person, about $42,600, and asked jurors to rely on logic when calculating the punitive amount appropriate for companies with earnings in the billions.
Juror Alan Folak said he wanted Teva to pay more because it had more knowledge about the drug than Baxter. He said testimony indicated Baxter’s employees weren't as informed as Teva's.
"Baxter and Teva were like an unhappy married couple; they don't talk to each other," Folak said. "(Teva) knew, and all they had to say was, 'there's nothing wrong with our drug, you're just misusing it.'"
Juror Britney Burnett, 21, said she didn’t agree with the verdict. She said Baxter wasn’t responsible for failing to warn the public.
Burnett was one of two jurors Wednesday who said they disagreed with the awarding of punitive damages.
A Teva spokeswoman said earlier this week that jurors weren’t allowed to hear some important evidence in the case and that the company planned appeal.
The trial, which began with jury selection April 12, was heard by District Court Judge Jessie Walsh.
Thousands sued in the wake of the outbreak. The Chanins’ lawsuit was the first to be heard by a jury.
Eglet and Kemp represent numerous hepatitis C patients and their next case is set for trial in October in front of District Judge Ken Cory.
Kemp and Eglet said they didn’t expect a settlement with the drug companies – again, Teva and Baxter -- before the trial date.
Sun reporter Tiffany Gibson contributed to this report.
Billion dollars for one couple? Did I read that right? Seriously greedy. Sorry.
this is a serious precedence on product liability.....everything we buy will now be more expensive.....sadly
Tort reform is so important. No doctor will ever be able to afford malpractice insurance now.
This is a joke.
Absolutely obscene and a gross exagerration of what any person should be entitled to for any damages.
Can we find out the names of the jurors to send them a card telling them how stupid they are! I said it once and I will say it again"don't REUSE syringes!! There are many drugs that are used in doctors' offices that are in larger than 1 time usage and you never hear cases about cross contamination. Why? Those doctors know that you don't reuse syringes and needles!! Go after the doctor and his office that caused this"oh wait, he declared bankruptcy so as not to deal with it. 500 million won't cure the 62 YO guy so why does he or the lawyers need it. Give away 500 million dollars of free drugs. There are a lot of people that don't have prescription drug coverage and that would help them.
No need to fret. this will be knocked down by the NV Supreme Court in about 3 seconds. The US Supreme Court has held that, althought it is not a hardfast rule, a punitive damage cannot exceed 10x the compensatory damages.
This will not hold up in court at all.
Unbelievable and unforgivable.
Obviously you have no idea what it is like to contarct an infectious disease as a result of someone who should of known better's wrong doing. Now he has to worry about giving it to his family......These defendants should be thrown in jail, they are lucky thats all they are shelling out, and all you care about is the cost of medicine in town, well the jury didnt sell oversized bottles of a drug where there was a known dosage for a procedure.....yet feeble minds like yourselves will blame the jury, instead of the willing participant in this mockery of our healthcare system. Anyone who thinks the jury is stupid is clearly an id-10-t, yet you must also be a conservative because only conservatives would blame the jurors rather than the drug company that violated the sanctity of their marriage. Can you imagine all of a sudden having a communicable disease...then trying to have sex with your wife? No because all you people care about is how much it will cost you. You are degenerates to even place any blame on this jury, they are not the ones who knowingly sold vials that were too large, and if they didn't know they were being used then they shouldn't have a license to sell drugs.
500 Million ??? Did I see that correctly?
That's not justice. That is insanity.
Henry;
Make the smart move and buy fountainPig for $500 million.
then every qtr you can lose $150 million like all the others.
@lectrocuda
I agree with a guilty verdict. However, 500 million goes beyond words. Why not just award the company as compensation? That would be equally ridiculous.
lectrocuda, conservatives and common sense people are questioning the jurors for this obscene amount. We're also saying the pharmaceutical companies should not be held responsible in this case. It was the doctors and nurses only who should be sued and held accountable.
But nice try.
The purpose of punitive damages are not to enrich the plaintiff, but to punish the wrongdoer so they don't do it again. the only thing corporations understand is money. The $500 million awarded was only 2 weeks of profits for the drug companies.
How else do you get the drug companies to be safe? Most people remember the Ford Pinto with the exploding gas tanks. What most people don't remember is that Ford knew they would explode, knew they would get sued, and figured they could pay the damages and still profit. The ONLY reason they quit making them was because of punitive damage awards.
The drug companies had 148 similar cases brought against them over the past 10 years, but did NOTHING. Why not? Because it was profitable and no one could stop them. Now, maybe they'll start selling appropriately designed vials.
"this is a serious precedence on product liability.....everything we buy will now be more expensive.....sadly"
Jurys never create precedent. Appeals courts do. We will see what the adults have to say in a few months.
"The purpose of punitive damages are not to enrich the plaintiff"
Sure, buddy. Then why does the defendent get the punative damages and not the state?
plaintiff I mean. Duh. Sorry.
@Noindex: How is the drug company not partially responsible? You have commonsense? Okay thats fine, but obviously you have no insight into the common practices of cost accounting. Everything is taken into consideration when selling a product, and in this case it would be how much is needed for a procedure, and clearly the vials exceeded that. If they didn't know that those vials would be reused...which is a clear health violation, then what buisness do they have holding a permit to manafacture and sell drugs? If you think for one second that some blame doesn't fall on the drug company, then I think its clearly obvious to most people here: Noindex you have no commonsense.
Because it's the Plaintiff who had to go to all the cost and expense of bringing the litigation. What did the State do to stop the conduct? Nothing, absolutely nothing, either before the cases were brought or after.
As to jumping on the jurors, they were the ones who heard ALL the evidence. I don't think any of you commentors actually heard ANY of the evidence. The jurors were all sworn to decide the case based upon the law and the facts, not on politics, or how much it would end up costing you or anyone else. Blaming the jury for deciding the case in a way that conflicts with your preconceived notions just shows how ignorant you are.
500 million awarded, but how much of that will actually be paid?
This is a classic example of how our legal system is broken. Ambulance chasing attorneys are awarded a ridiculous amount of money by moron jurors. No wonder the American economy is in a shambles. We need tort reform now!
Amen DickTater
goingbust is right on, and this punitive damage will be thrown out as a violation of the due process of the defendants. See BMW v. Gore and State Farm v. Campbell. the punitive damages should not exceed the compensatory damages by more than 10 fold.
@redroc: I agree the lawyers are way overpaid....but the punishment is just, if I stabbed you with a needle and infected you with AIDS or Hepatitis you would probably try to kill me. Go do some research and see just how much money these drug companies have been making. Its about time these corporations get a slap upside their head rather than on their wrist.
redroc, tort reform in this case would not have done anything because the award of comepensatory damages was non-economic recovery; i.e. actual damages. It was for pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and $ to treat the disease for the rest of thiier lives. That is not an economic lass, but an actual loss. Tort reform cannot put a cap on that, because that would violate the due process of the plaintiffs.
ohh yeah, for all you conservatives that are about less govt.....and not regulating buisness.....this should be a wake up... even with regulations this stuff still goes on, imagine if there was no regulation? Of course you imperialists will have some kind of cockamaney rhetoric to blame the doctor and the nurses, but the vials were the mechanism, if they were the right size...then it wouldn't of mattered because they would not be reusing them.
Lawyers just pocketed $1.6 mil. at LEAST. I hope this crap gets appealed.
Yes it is wrong what happened, but crap like this is going to be re-cycled now across the country and fill the court rooms. Major chain reaction, and the costs of products/services are going WAY UP to pay for it all.
@ letrocuda. Who cares how much the drug compaines are making. You might want to do some research because I can show you case after case where courts have held that punitive damages are not to take into account the amount of $$$ a defendant makes to come up with a punitive number. It is a slippery slope and what happens if the defendant is insolvent at the time???? Do you award a punitive damage of $10,000 because the defendant is bankrupt? The short answer is no.
Drug companies are the entities who spend 10's of billions of dollars in reasrch and development into the drugs. I would expect them to try and make that money back.
So you're telling me, that the doctors and nurses that have years and years of training don't know not to cross contaminate needles????? What year is this. Even drug uses know not to cross contaminate used needles. I bet it's taught on the 1st day of medical school.
The system needs to be changed to cap punitive damages to an amount related to actual damages. I don't think anyone disagrees that a plaintiff should be entitled to actual damages. The problem is that punitive damages are out of control. It's excessive punitive damage awards that drive up insurance premiums to an unaffordable level for many businesses. The government won't reign in punitive damages because the trial attorneys have a very powerful lobby. As a result, the system is broken.
redroc, it is. The Supreme Court has said it's around 10x. They did not want to give a hardfast rule because capping damages delves into the shady world of due process violation.
Oh dear DickTater and lectrocuda:
How confused you both are.
A drug company is an entity..not a person who takes a needle, puts it in a drug and gives it to a patient. A company cannot calculate how much medication one patient might take over another. It may take more of a drug to put me out than you. Especially since you both live in Neverneverland.
DickTater: A plaintiff in a contingency case doesn't put up anything..the attorney does, and he takes his 33% or more fee, and that covers what was spent.
And I was in this jury pool till the end..some of those jurors didn't know their head from their a**. Half of them were still trying to get outta jury duty up until the last minute. So much for civic duty..huh.
How are jurors supposed to follow the law when they probably don't understand 99% of it.
I don't care if there were 148 million cases of "injuries" by drug companies over the last year. They provided a product that was misused. They can put ten warning labels on a drug..but it's the doctors who administer it..and YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID!
And lectrocuda:
Stop your ranting and trying to turn this into a political issue..with the conservative bs..I don't care about having feelings towards people who contracted this or that, because that isn't the issue. The wrong people were financially penalized, but they were the only ones with money left.
Lv1, Amen and Amen.
Why did they put the stuff in a bottle with a dose big enough for and adult Sperm Whale?
I hope the insect terminator (exterminator) "IT Man" who has a talk show in the afternoon (along with a former Senator John Ensign Staffer) will quit playing legal expert now.
Thank God for the great attorneys we have in our community.
@reagan21 - That is exactly the problem. 10X actual damages seems extremely excessive. It only invites attorneys to bring lawsuits in an attempt to hit the big one. If we want to fix our legal system we need to limit punitive damages to something reasonable. Also, if the plaintiff loses they should pay the defendant's legal fees. That would eliminate frivilous suits and free up the courts to deal with real issues.
Well after reading all these posts finally someone makes sense. Reagan21 you are the only one that I agree with when you state that the reuse of syringes is the problem. They are sterile when first unpackaged so no matter what size the vile is if you don't reuse the needle no worries. The jury was wrong in this I believe. And even without listening to testimony the fault is with those that administered the drug.
mred has hardly ever made an
intelligent comment on any subject..
I guess he figured why start now
usually I am against enormous settlements, but this one fits the crime.
We're talking about 50,000 of our fellow Nevadans exposed to deadly disease by these criminals to save pennies; if the pharmaceutical company has to pay then so be it. Should be a class action (what about the six or seven other folks with genetically linked Hep C?) in my opinion, however.
Next up, the physicians and nurses working in those clinics to be tried as criminals.
That kind of medical "practice" belongs in the third world, not in the U.S.A. (at least one would hope)
I mean these guys were trying to save 10 cents by reusing syringes...absolutely unconscionable.
Reagan21-
You, obviously, do not know the law. Nevada Revised Statute 42.005(4) specifically allows evidence of the Defendant's financial condition to be introduced at the hearing to determine the amount of punitive damages. Certainly, the financial condition is highly relevant. A $1000 award may be quite onerous for someone making minimum wage, while it would be nothing to a multibillion dollar corporation.
Corporations have no conscience, the only thing they understand is money.
Corporations have no conscience?
Neither do unethical doctors who don't follow medical practices in ensuring their patients safety.
If it weren't for this corporation, there would be no drugs..and then how would you feel when they are shoving that device up your rear.
lv1,
I can see why you weren't picked for the jury. Your mind is made up, it doesn't matter to you what the facts or the law are. That is the definition of "biased". As to "ignorant", your statement that drug companies can't calculate dosages is a dandy. It's the drug companies that test the drug and determine the dosages. Have you never seen a PDR?
If you had actually paid attention to the actual FACTS (I know, they do tend to have a liberal bias) you would've learned that the companies knew the 50mg vials are way more than needed for a colonoscopy, that they used to sell smaller vials, but quit because they didn't make ENOUGH profit on the smaller vials.
Your argument is the same as saying a drug co. could only make a 1000mg oxycontin pill and it would then be up to the dr. and patient to make sure he only chipped off a 10th of the pill at a time. Hey, if someone OD'ed, it wasn't the drug company's fault
No I wasn't picked for the jury because I am in the legal field and the plaintiff's attorney was afraid I'd actually be able to understand the law..then his little sheep wouldn't have sided with him.
I find it entertaining that you make reference to the actual FACTS, which I assume you know just as much about as me, since we all get our information from the same place.
I don't care if the company knew it was more drug than needed for one colonoscopy..that didn't mean the doctor should put a dirty needle back in that vial and give some to a new patient.
And your little oxycontin analogy is like apples and oranges..so blah blah blah
Are companies supposed to start putting Tylenol or Advil in 20 separate boxes instead of 20 tabs in a box, because they should know that some idiot will take all 20 at a time and overdose. So he can say.."Well they put them all in the same box so that must mean they want me to take them all at the same time" ??
Hey, lv1 (or should we say Casey) make sure you ask for your full 50 ml, you paid for it.
I thought they should get $1 bil.
I don't know who Casey is..
And of course you would..
When will the USA go bankrupt? Such high fees assigned is not normal. This applies in many other cases. These lawyers will probably get a huge bonus. Lawyers are greedy grabbers. They think only of their commission! "I sue you" will ruin the USA.
lv1,
You're right, I wasn't there, but I'm not the one who is saying the jury screwed up. I'm a little bit more likely to trust the American Justice system than others who had their mind made up before the trial even began.
And you're right, you didn't say they screwed up, but you defended them as if you were there
The American Justice system as it relates to the jury system..is basically a pool of people who come in with the mind set of what do I have to say to get off this jury because I have better things to do. That's what I want deciding my fate..not.
who said anything about having their mind made up..I didn't have my mind made up until now..after the trial. After what we've been told in the media, by quotes from the parties themselves and such
Can I state for the record that even though I'm a registered independent I do lean left. And this award is just outrageous! This is ridiculous. $500 million?? This pharmaceutical companies aren't in the business of losing money. You and I are going to foot the bill on this one.
Multi-use vials have been in the medical industry forever. This was recklessness and intentional on the clinic's part.
And even if you do make the argument that the pharmaceutical was guilty, which they obviously did, half a billion dollars??
They went after the drug companies because that is where the money is. Fact is, no matter how big the bottle is, nurses and doctors at the clinic knew proper procedures for infection control and did not practice it because of their greed in performing assembly-line medicine. But you're not going to get hundreds of millions out of them.
Well I certainly feel for Mr. Chanin, however I think this award is absurd. Maybe Mr. Chanin should share the money with all the others who were infected, then we can throw Dr. Dipak "Death" Desai in jail for the rest of his life. But seriously when there are awards like this against a company that played no part in this tradgedy we all pay. This is why the cost of healthcare is skyrocketing. The system is definitely broken and did not work.
Dicktater:
Your logic with regards to a hypothetical 1000mg oxycontin pill is flawed. No one would trust a patient to chip off a fraction of a pill of that nature - that would certainly be product liability. However, the physicians involved in the administration of propofol should be deemed competent to administer medications as they see fit due to their professional training, therefore the burden of liability really should lay upon the shoulders of the physicians.
In addition, the standard of care across the country is actually to use bottles of propofol on multiple patients. If clean and safe technique is used, this is not an unsafe practice. There are many, many medications out there that are multi-use vials, indicating that many patients can be treated out of one vial of medication. The error of the hepatitis transmission lies in the reuse of syringes or needles, an obvious breach in standard of care, and again, the onus of error lies upon the shoulder of the physicians.
The truth of the matter is that the plaintiffs are going after the deepest pockets - the drug companies. Desai and Co. have their millions stashed away overseas and in trusts that will unfortunately be impenetrable.
It's comical that folks think big business will ever pay for such ridiculous judgments...Wake up! WE PAY FOR IT AS THE CONSUMER IN HIGHER PRICES. ALL TRIAL LAWYERS SUCK - They contribute noting but to higher prices!
Congratulations to the Chanin family and their outstanding lawyers.
Can I sue Morton's if the chef puts too much salt on my food because the amount he purchased to use in his resturant was more than I needed at the time? Lawyer skin boots should be the next fashion craze!
Glenn Lerner must be pissed that his ads didn't bring this humongous payday to his office.
The words of Samuel Morse are very appropriate here:
"What hath God wrought?
Good lord, what bunch of dimbulbs plucked this figure from the sky?
I suppose you can really blame this on atourneys, but for heavens sake, 500 million is so damn rediculous, and this guy will likely never see $50,000 of it.
Must have been a rough day of jury selection
with these peabrains.
I can see the next outrageous case. I buy a bottle of Advil, any size other than the 2-pill foils. It is presumed that the contents of the bottle are sterile, or safe, when first opened. But since the pills are loose inside, and the seal is broken, and it is quite possible for someone to shake out more than needed and return the extra to the bottle, I can sue the makers of Advil for not individually packaging each pill so cross-contamination is impossible.
Bull.
We might as well say that smokers are sick because the greedy US government continues to tax and profit from smoking, instead of banning cigarettes, like it should. Never mind that a warning is on the pack, THE SMOKERS IGNORE THIS WARNING AND SMOKE ANWAY.
The government knows that will happen, and it will collect the tax; so that when the smoker gets sick IT'S THE FAULT OF THE GOVERNMENT!
Everone of the poor sick people should collect millions, or why not billions of dollars from the greedy government? Let them send that message to Congress!
If it's not about the money and they turned down 1.7 mil then donate the money. Hmm probably not. A jury is 12 people who are not smart enough to get out of jury duty.
I cannot believe that you people actually think that the drug companies aren't partially to blame?
@reagan I care how much they make....thats profit, thats after everything is paid for...they make billions.....To me it seems you are a partisan fool that would defend buisness no matter what. If the drug companies never sold these pinhead medical workers the "oversized" vials then they wouldn't have been able to be ignorant of the industry standards.
This is why conservatives will not win another election majority...because educated people can clearly see that you conservatives want to take all the rights of the individual and grant them to a corporation so they can hide behind the anonymity of the articles of incorporation.
@reagan while I do agree this will not stand up at appeal, to even hint that these companies hold no responsibility shows your lack of being in touch with reality. Sorry to say.
I hope this whole case is overturned on appeal. Holding these companies responsible for the stupidity of the clinic staff is almost exactly the same as holding Winchester repsonsible for a person's suicide.
I can't even remember the last time I saw a syringe that wasn't meant to be disposed of after a single use or the last time I was in a medical room that didn't have a syringe disposal unit on the wall. But I can sure remember a staff member taking a NEW syringe and filling it from a multi-dose vial. And I remember they immediately put it in the disposal unit after use.
No, blaming the companies for putting out a product in an economical package is insane. The companies are doing clinics everywhere a huge favor by packaging like this. Just think how much more per dose clinics would have to pay because of sterilization procedures on 5 or 10 times as many containers, plus cost of materials.
No, the companies were responding to market requirements for an economical package for clinics by putting out multi-dose vials. But no one in their right mind would think a clinic would re-use needles!
LECT..you hit it on the head...reqardless what everyone says - right-wrong or indifferent..what price is worth, someone cathing a deadly disease because of the actions of others? $500 million? They wil lnever see that amount because years of appeals until they find a judge that "caves in"..Let me ask everyone on this board who thinks its wrong - how much is your husband's or wife's life worth?
My wife and I are both worth that much or more, but not if we steal it via the courts from whoever has the deepest pockets. This case is nothing but theft.
Lawyers kept abusing Cessna Aircraft Company in the 80's and their only solution was to stop making airplanes that benefited everyone in the world. They stopped because everyone kept blaming them for killing themselves and blaming the manufacturer. Watch out Ford, Chevy...... your next.
This is a stupid verdict made by a stupid jury. Everyone wants something for nothing.
Verdicts like this will cripple innovation and motivation for success. Why work hard or do good for mankind if someone else is gonna steal it.
This is a joke!
This is pretty obvious, The clinic and the doctors are at fault period. There could be 50,000 lawsuits. There is not much money available from the clinics so go after the drug companies. I am not a fan of them but if a sterile needle was used there would not be any transmission. I feel for these people but the lawyers always go after the deep pockets. Wake up lectrocuda
I was a juror on this case and by reading all this outrage on this blog I feel it is definately not aimed at right area!
THe amount that was fined for punitive damages was the amount that the two companys made from this 1 drug for the last 11 years!
The clinics reused the medicine.
The average colonoscopy uses less than 20 ml of med and the clinics had hospital size bottles 50-100ml on hand. That are used in for long sedations!
The person most knowledgeable that TEVA and BAXTER used as their main expert even said they knew people were multidosing since 2001 and reports of over 15,000 hep c cases were reported by 2003.
The FDA even contacted company about reports!
THe plantiff tried to settle with drug co for 1.7 million and the drug co ignored the deal.
Its not about greed. In 2009 the companies made over 13 billion dollars they are one of the largest drug manufactors/distrubutors in the world!
the amount decisioned was less than what they made in one month this year alone. we had printouts of their earnings.
The biggest question here is multidosing the cause of the Hep C or is it the dirty needles. Please explain how you can be infected if a sterile needle is used? Where does the transmission come from if the needle is clean? The product is sterile. You stick a sterile needle in each time. They were multidosing all the kids vaccine and no problem.
Outrageous award by a pocked jury.
I am trying to shed some light on what the public doesnt know in the same forum u r in so if I am searching for fame so are u!
What the drs sd that the drug co used as experts, was that sometimes u need to go back in the bottle and they dont use a new syringe for same patient.
Then they pass the vial to the next patient because there is enough for another procedure.
I need an attorney, I was going to shoot one Deer but the box of ammo contained 20 bullets,so... since I am as ignorant as lectrocuda....I shot the entire heard.....since I got caught by Fish and Game..... I want to sue the ammo manufacturer....
Better yet, I am obese, I want to sue Costco for selling bigger packages of ho-ho's.
Even better, I just got a DUI because the beer was sold by the keg and.......
Seriously, you are blaming the manufacturer for selling a drug that is more profitable.... why aren't the Doctors and Nurses in Jail???
Lectrocuda you sir are a bottom feeder, you blame the Companies for the lazy behavior of the end user.... Heaven help us!
With any luck "juror" just handed the drug companies a gold-plated appeal. What so-called expert would ever say that accepted practice? Has anyone posting ever heard of anything like that, let alone seen it?
I don't understand. The doctor/nurses injected the people, not the company selling the bottle. I feel very sorry for the people that got sick, but didn't the bottle say single use? They should have just discarded the left over after each patient and used a new bottle for each new patient, ie it's the clinics procedure that is at fault. How much do those bottles cost? Were they trying to save money reusing it? They are just shifting the blame to the company, because the individual doctor/nurses don't have that kind of money and the lawyers work on commission. I would rather see those clinic people loose their job, now they are still at work and can do the same thing again and blame it on the drug company, encouraging more lawsuits because a precedent has been set.
here are some simple facts of this case:
1. I work in the medical field and we have to abide by a rule called "universal precautions". This states that a syringe is a "use and lose" medical device. It is to be used once and then properly disposed of, even if you are using it on the same patient. When the clinic re-used the syringes they broke the law and essentially caused the cross-infection of the virus. If a new syringe was used for each application of the drug this disaster would never have happened.
2. The drug company did produce and have available smaller dose vials. The clinic simply bought larger vials in order to save money. Purchasing the larger dose vials does not abscond them of using them in a responsible manner i.e. "universal precautions".
3. It is not the drug companies responsiblity to insure that the product is administered according to universal precautions, it is the clinics responsiblity. If I buy a car from GM it is not their responsiblity to insure that I don't speed or drive drunk.
4. Hundreds of people were infected due to the incompetance of the clinic and its staff. Is every one of those people going to get a $500 billion settlement? I'm sure trial lawyers in town are getting ready to file lawsuits for each and every one of them and create a legal traffic jam/travesty in our courts.
This is a very disturbing verdict that has no precedance according to the law and logic. Hopefully more intelligent minds will reconsider this verdict and overturn it at appeal. I feel for all the people infected but simply blaming the party with the deepest pockets is misguided, greedy and immoral. This case is another large reason this country needs TORT reform now.
If its not about money (which of course, everything is about money), then they should insist that the award after legal fees go to charity. And by legal fees, I mean actual incurred expenses, not what is probably 30% of half a billion.
The greed here was the defendants refusing to settling out of court.
Everything about this case is bizarre. I imagine it will be settled amicably in a higher court.
Traynor, you are WRONG.....If you did nothing wrong.....why settle???
by TraynorDr. "The greed here was the defendants refusing to settling out of court". This is a completely ignorgant comment. Settling out of court admits guilt. They did nothing wrong and an appealate court will confirm that. The only justice in this case will be when Dr. Desai is sent to prison.
I am an anesthesiologist who administers the drug propofol everyday. I don't think the jury understands the context.
We have used this drug for decades and have known for decades not to reuse syringes. The drug companies have repeatedly warned against this over the years. Each bottle warns against this. Our scientific literature warns against it. No reuse, no harm.
The drug company has no control over where the distributor sends the vials. The clinic orders them in quantity and gets a better price per milliliter on the larger vials, which can be used safely for multiple patients if no syringes are reused. Throwing away the remainder in each vial after enough is taken for one patient increases wastage, which costs money and contaminates landfills. Believe me, there is no way to idiot-proof even the smaller vials.
Some patients require more drug than others. I have used an entire 50 ml bottle on a single patient before. Also, this drug is infused for longer cases and to sedate patients in intensive care units who are on ventilators. Gagging, fighting the tube down your throat, and remembering every minute of agony is best prevented by infusing propofol from these larger bottles. That is why they make larger bottles.
A large verdict against the drug company increases the price. A higher price makes Medicare and insurance companies say you don't need anesthesia for your colonoscopy, and refuse to pay for it regardless of your medical condition or anxiety.
The MORONS who infected this poor man (and that MORON who killed Michael Jackson with propofol) should be punished and never practice in medicine again. People are already afraid of getting propofol, which is superior to any other alternative drug right now, and (so far) much cheaper. I have to reassure patients everyday that propofol is best for them, and that I know how to use it safely, because of what they have heard on the news.
I don't know what else the drug companies can do to prevent the misuse of their product.
I say put $500,000,000 million on RED and parlay into 1 billion
What's your way of life worth?
Bottom line;
This guy went to a doctor for medical care.
Instead of receiving care he was poisoned.
He is now being slowly murdered by what they did to him at that clinic.
The carelessly negligent medical establishment made 13-14 Billion Dollars while they poisoned him and others.
Even a heroin junkie can tell you these medical professionals broke needle protocol.
How much is YOUR life worth?
TOTALLY excessive sum of money. This couple will never see that amount of money and the attorneys will not be getting paid anytime soon either. As we are all griping here, the drug company's legal counsel is working OT this weekend on their appeal - that's if they still have jobs. Evidently, the jurors did not look at the facts of the case objectively but as victims themselves, ie if it can happen to that man, it can happen to us. Got to hand it to the prosecuting attorneys on this one. Brilliant on their part to have the jurors side with the plaintiff when it was obvious the drug company was not at fault.
And the drug company should fire their counsel. They needed REAL litigators to handle this. not the corporate suits dressing up as litigators. Even if the drug co. didn't use their own counsel, they should fire the lawyers they used.
Agree with all those who said it was the DOCTORS AND NURSES who are at fault here. Not the drug company. And Aldosacre, as a professional, explained it best to all those who do not understand.
aldosacre; I am a nurse and agree with you wholeheartedly. It was an insult to proper medical professionals for the jury to find the drug companies liable for misuse of their well-labeled products. We are taught principles to apply during any medication administration. That a profiteering doctor chose to discard these principles does not make the drug companies liable.
Im wide awake people and not confused and this case has no similarities to holding wichester accountable for murder with a fire arm.
All parties are responsible here...the clinic, and the drug companies, you people are just trying to protect your out of whack conservative ideals. Today 5/8/10 @ 3-5pm we will be having a forum at the east flamingo library "reboot democracy" anyone who wants to bring this issue up is more than welcome....
What did the drug companies think that the clinic was just going to throw half the bottle away? Even if the clinic used a clean needle it is still a violation to reuse the vial...wow what a bunch of mindless corporate sheep
To say that the drug companies dont share any responsibility whatsoever proves you are at a supreme level of ignorance
"I don't know what else the drug companies can do to prevent the misuse of their product."
So your saying that the distributor is partially responsible? I could agree with that. If the clinic only did colonoscopies and the vials were double the size of the standard used, nobody could figure out that they were contributing tto the delinquency of a doctor?
The problem with all of the negative comments is that all of you have no understanding of the law or of products liability- Further this verdict will not cost you anything. It will be appealed and there will be some form of settlement. Companies that make 13.5 billion in profits a year are more than likely self insured and put money away for these sort of thing. Additionally in a products liability case Manufactures are liable for foreseeable misuse of their products that they failed to warn consumers of. This company provided vials of meds that they knew would encourage doctors to reuse bc there was still meds in the vial. Further once the company became aware of the first case of something being contacted they have a duty to warn drs not to use the extra meds in the vials on other people. They did not do this and let it go on for 10 years with several people infected. You were not on the jury, you did not hear all the facts of the case, and you should not have an opinion.
OK after reading all these I understand a little bit more.
tellingthetruth - you should not say someone can not have an opinion, everyone is entitled to an opinion, even you. It would be OK to use all the propofol liquid as long as they put a clean needle into the bottle each time. Putting a USED dirty needle into the bottle is INSANE, can you understand that? Many needles can be filled from one bottle of vaccination liquid like swine flu etc if a FRESH needle is inserted each time into the bottle until it's all gone. The key is a fresh needle, people are not understanding this.
lectrocuda - you are just stubborn and refuse to see any logic from anyone who opposes you. You are at a supreme level of ignorance, I'm sorry I don't mean to insult you, I'm just repeating what you said. Like the newspaper said, it could be a gallon size jug, wouldn't matter if a CLEAN needle was used each time. Please say you agree with me there??
lectrocuda, when did you lose your day job at the pharmacy?
You condemn the manufacturer and give a pass to clinitians.....very disturbing.
If Mr. Chanin believes it is "not about the money," then he should donate his settlement to one of the many research organizations looking to cure Hepatitis C.
what about all the other people that got it? This amount will probably be applied and they will never see a dime
Why do people insist on misconstruing my statements, do you not read?
@get a life I SAID THEY WERE BOTH RESPONSIBLE!!
but I expect as much since most of you pinheads only pick and choose the information you wish to digest.
One day when you actually realize how misinformed you are, and are actually responsible enough to admit it....maybe then we can have an intelligent exchange of ideas, something tells me though that I am the fool for thinking that is possible with the majority of you pinheads.
F BIG BUSINESS
Might as well start suing car manufacturers the next time you get a speeding ticket. After all, it is their fault for making cars that go 100 mph.
The jury got it wrong. The fault lies solely with the greedy doctor who re-used needles and his medical staff that went along with it, period.
I wouldn't care if the drug came in drums - we don't reuse needles in this country.
lectrocuda - Why don't you try thinking beyond your brain stem and actually read the article. Grow up and get over the "big bad pharmaceutical company" mentality. The only way that the hepatitis C is if the doctor/nurse did not use an aseptic technique when administering the drug. The fact that the hep C outbreak was due to this one or two particular centers tells me it's not about the pharma company but the people administering the drug. It's also funny how Eglet is currently being investigated by the FBI for fraud. Hmmm...
Okay, you may now go back to playing World of Warcraft in you mom's basement.