Andrew Demillo

February 16, 2007 | Law.com

After deliberating for more than a day, a federal jury in Arkansas has found for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in the latest lawsuit claiming that the company's hormone replacement drugs cause breast cancer. Lawyers for Wyeth had said the plaintiff likely would have developed breast cancer regardless of whether she took Premarin and Prempro because of genetic and health factors, such as weight gain and a history of smoking. Since last fall, Wyeth has won two Prempro cases and lost one; another ended in a mistrial.

By Andrew DeMillo

2 minute read

August 21, 2007 | Law.com

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has asked a state judge to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses the former Arkansas governor of breaking the law when his administration destroyed government-owned hard drives as he left office in January. Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, Ark., filed a lawsuit last month in Pulaski County Circuit Court accusing Huckabee of violating the state's Freedom of Information Act and a state law that prohibits damaging a computer without authorization.

By Andrew DeMillo

2 minute read

August 20, 2008 | Law.com

An Arkansas Supreme Court justice won't face criminal charges over claims that he assaulted his 63-year-old sister at their father's home last year, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Pulaski County, Ark., prosecutor Larry Jegley said that his office decided not to pursue any charges against Justice Jim Gunter over a reported altercation with his sister in Hope. Janet Gibson had told police that Gunter, 65, backhanded her across the mouth and shoved her to the floor when she attempted to get up.

By Andrew DeMillo

3 minute read

June 12, 2007 | Law.com

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Philip Morris Cos. Inc. cannot move a lawsuit by cigarette smokers into federal court. Philip Morris moved a case filed against it in state court in Arkansas to federal court, saying it could do so because the company was pervasively regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. "A highly regulated firm cannot find a statutory basis for removal" to a federal court "in the fact of regulation alone," wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the Court's unanimous ruling.

By Andrew DeMillo

3 minute read

September 18, 2006 | Law.com

Drug maker Wyeth won the first of about 4,500 lawsuits over its hormone replacement drugs, Premarin and Prempro, last week when a federal jury rejected 67-year-old Linda Reeves' claim the drugs caused her breast cancer. During trial, Reeves acknowledged not reading information supplied with the drug and said she let her doctor decide whether it was appropriate for menopause symptoms. An attorney for Wyeth said the suit was an "excellent" sign for upcoming cases, a notion Reeves' lawyer disputed.

By Andrew DeMillo

5 minute read

June 12, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Philip Morris Cos. Inc. cannot move a lawsuit by cigarette smokers into federal court. Philip Morris moved a case filed against it in state court in Arkansas to federal court, saying it could do so because the company was pervasively regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. "A highly regulated firm cannot find a statutory basis for removal" to a federal court "in the fact of regulation alone," wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the Court's unanimous ruling.

By Andrew DeMillo

3 minute read

September 24, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

By Andrew DeMillo

3 minute read

June 12, 2007 | National Law Journal

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Philip Morris Cos. Inc. cannot move a lawsuit by cigarette smokers into federal court. Philip Morris moved a case filed against it in state court in Arkansas to federal court, saying it could do so because the company was pervasively regulated by the Federal Trade Commission. "A highly regulated firm cannot find a statutory basis for removal" to a federal court "in the fact of regulation alone," wrote Justice Stephen Breyer in the Court's unanimous ruling.

By Andrew DeMillo

3 minute read

August 22, 2006 | Law.com

As lawyers argued over which evidence should be allowed, a federal judge on Monday delayed jury selection in the first trial of 4,500 lawsuits filed nationwide that challenge Prempro, a hormone-replacement therapy that some women say causes breast cancer. While plaintiffs say Wyeth was more worried about money than patient safety while developing the drug, the drug company wants jurors to see its request -- made to the FDA in 1983 -- for a study about the effects of combining estrogen and progestin.

By Andrew DeMillo

2 minute read

September 18, 2006 | Law.com

Drug maker Wyeth won the first of about 4,500 lawsuits over its hormone replacement drugs, Premarin and Prempro, last week when a federal jury rejected 67-year-old Linda Reeves' claim the drugs caused her breast cancer. During trial, Reeves acknowledged not reading information supplied with the drug and said she let her doctor decide whether it was appropriate for menopause symptoms. An attorney for Wyeth said the suit was an "excellent" sign for upcoming cases, a notion Reeves' lawyer disputed.

By Andrew DeMillo

5 minute read