May
15, 1999
Web posted at: 8:48 AM EDT (1248 GMT)
DALLAS (AP) -- The makers of Norplant are negotiating a national settlement with about 40,000 women who say the birth control device injured them, The Dallas Morning News reported Saturday, quoting lawyers who said the deal could be worth $100 million.
Austin lawyer Mike Slack, who represents 1,500 Norplant users, said settlement discussions with American Home Products Corp. of Madison, N.J., were under way but wouldn't discuss details. The company declined to comment.
Norplant is made of six silicone rods filled with a synthetic hormone and is intended to protect users from pregnancy for about five years. Users have blamed it for irregular menstrual cycles, weight gain, headaches and depression.
American Home Products, the world's seventh-largest drug maker, has been served with 3,732 lawsuits on behalf of 39,580 Norplant users. U.S. District Judge Richard Schell of Beaumont is presiding over all federal lawsuits, which involve about 30,000 users.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that American Home Products need not warn patients about the potential dangers of its drugs, as long as doctors are informed. Plaintiffs' lawyers say doctors also were misled about Norplant's side effects.
American Home Products and subsidiary Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories have denied wrongdoing, and say doctors and patients are familiar with the side effects.
"Wyeth-Ayerst continues to emphasize the importance of maintaining the Norplant system as a valuable contraceptive option for women," Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said Friday.
"At the same time, the company has and will continue to offer health-care professionals an array of patient education materials to help the counsel patients about the benefits and risks associated with the Norplant system."
Lawyers this week also said they've begun settlement talks with American Home Products on behalf of thousands of people who said they developed heart problems after using the diet drug combination fen-phen. Lawyers and analysts have said the fen-phen settlement could total between $3 billion and $5 billion.