Judge tosses Seroquel suit - "The plaintiffs want to try these cases in the press,"said Mike Kelly, a Wilmington attorney

Judge tosses Seroquel suit

Exclusion of expert's testimony sinks case for diabetes link

By ANDREW EDER
The News Journal

A Delaware judge has thrown out a case that was scheduled to be the first trial among thousands of lawsuits against AstraZeneca over its handling of the antipsychotic drug Seroquel.

In a letter to attorneys for the drugmaker and plaintiff Nina Scaife, Superior Court Judge Joseph Slights III granted AstraZeneca's request Tuesday to exclude the testimony of endocrinologist Valerie Peck, who connected Scaife's diabetes with her Seroquel use.

AstraZeneca attorneys had argued in March hearings that Scaife, a 46-year-old from Kansas City, Kan., could not rule out other risk factors as the cause of her diabetes.

"In the absence of competent expert testimony regarding specific causation, the court has also determined that it must grant the defendants' motion for summary judgment in this case," Judge Joseph Slights III wrote. Slights said a full written opinion would follow.

Scaife's case was one of hundreds in the Delaware court -- and nearly 10,000 total -- that accuse AstraZeneca of hiding or downplaying evidence that Seroquel can cause diabetes. Seroquel, AstraZeneca's second-best-selling drug with sales of $4.45 billion last year, was developed in Delaware by a predecessor of the London drug maker, which has its U.S. headquarters in Fairfax.

Scaife's case had been scheduled to go to trial June 29. Paul Pennock, an attorney for Scaife, said Slights' decision was unfortunate. "He's a very smart jurist, but unless I'm missing something completely, I think he's gotten this one wrong, and we will probably be appealing," Pennock said.

Pennock said his firm represents 2,200 Seroquel plaintiffs, with most of those cases filed in state courts in New York and New Jersey. Under laws in those states, Pennock said, Peck's testimony would be admissible. "This is unfortunate for Miss Scaife, although we don't think it's correct," Pennock said. "We think this litigation will just take on a new and more visceral form in New York and New Jersey."

Tuesday's action follows another dismissal last week of a Delaware case in which a plaintiff failed to disclose her lawsuit against AstraZeneca to a bankruptcy judge. In January, a federal judge overseeing thousands of lawsuits across the country dismissed the first two cases that were set to go to trial.

"The plaintiffs want to try these cases in the press," said Mike Kelly, a Wilmington attorney with the law firm McCarter & English who represents AstraZeneca in the Delaware cases. "But what is happening in the courts tells it all ... So far, the plaintiffs can't get a case to trial."


http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090527/BUSINESS/905270310/1003&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL