HEPATITIS C LAWSUIT: Jury awards Las Vegas couple a record $500 million award

Jury awards a Las Vegas couple $500 million in punitive damages after the husband contracted hepatitis C during a colonoscopy procedure.

The couple had sued the Teva Parenteral Medicine and Baxter Healthcare Services on several product liability claims related to propofol, a popular anesthetic that was used at the Endoscopy Center when he was infected with hepatitis C in 2006.

In 2008, two Las Vegas endoscopy clinics notified over 50,000 patients about possible exposure to hepatitis, HIV and other blood-borne diseases because of unsafe injection practices at the clinic. Hundreds of patients have filed lawsuits as a result of the outbreak.

Officials blamed the local outbreak on nurse anesthetists reusing single-dose drug vials between patients after the vials had become contaminated by the nurses reusing syringes on the same patient.

The couple’s lawyer said the companies knew of the temptation to reuse the large 50 milliliter vials of propofol, which contained four to five times the amount needed for a typical 10-minute colonoscopy.
Teva wrote to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000 to get approval to make 10 milliliter vials of propofol. The report acknowledged that some medical workers were reusing the larger vials among patients to avoid throwing away unused anesthetic.

The smaller vials would improve patient safety undergoing endoscopic procedures because there would be less leftover anesthetic to tempt medical workers to reuse the vials, the report stated.

Teva made the 10 milliliter vials until 2007, when it stopped production in part because the smaller vials (10 millimeter) cost more to make than the larger vials (50 millimeter).

The jury found both drug 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, that Teva Parenteral Medicines should pay $356 million and Baxter Healthcare Corp. should pay $144 million.

Hepatitis C can lead to liver disease, including cirrhosis or liver cancer. The husband’s 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.

The couple’s lawyer said the drug companies knew about 148 cases of hepatitis linked to propofol before he underwent the colonoscopy and didn’t do anything to warn medical professionals.

If you have had a colonoscopy or an endoscopy procedure, or another procedure where you believe you have received the drug propofol or  have been recently diagnosed with HIV or Hepatitis C following a medical procedure, please contact 1 877 MESSALAW for a free consultation.