$2.1 Million Award for Cancer Patient’s Bisphosphonate Drug Complications

Between 1999 and 2005, 62-year-old Adriann Georges took Aredia and Zometa, bisphosphonate drugs used to prevent the loss of bone mass in cancer patients. Georges subsequently developed bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), a severe bone disease that occurs when the jawbone is exposed for eight weeks or more, causing the jawbone to weaken and die. ONJ can be permanently disfiguring, extremely painful and result in the complete loss of an individual’s jawbone. Despite ONJ being linked to bisphosphonate drugs Aredia and Zometa, ONJ was not indicated as a risk on the drugs’ labels.

Georges filed suit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., the manufacturer of Aredia and Zometa, alleging that Defendant failed to timely warn of the correlation between bisphosphonates and the development of ONJ, intentionally concealed findings of such a correlation and breached the implied warranty of marketability. As a result, Georges developed ONJ after taking the drugs over a period of time, causing pieces of her jawbone to extrude from her face.

At trial, counsel for Plaintiff presented evidence that Defendants were aware of the risk as early as 2002. Despite such knowledge, Defendants developed a program to downplay any relationship between bisphosphonates and ONJ, and discouraged the dissemination of information about the disease.

Counsel for the Defendant presented evidence of other causes of ONJ and argued that prior to 2002 there was no information to suggest that ONJ was a possible consequence of bisphosphonate therapy. Moreover, Defendant claimed it reacted promptly and appropriately to the first reports of complications. Defendant further maintained that the drugs were in fact effective and that the therapeutic benefits outweighed the risks.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff’s claims of failure to warn, negligent manufacturing and intentional concealment and awarded her $2,162,000.

VERDICT: $2,162,000
COURT: United States District Court, Central District, Los Angeles, CA

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