Filed at 5:41 p.m. ET
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A judge Thursday refused to drop two
pharmaceutical giants from scores of wrongful-death lawsuits stemming
from the case of a pharmacist who watered down chemotherapy drugs given
to cancer patients.
Eli Lilly and Co. and Bristol-Myers
Squibb argued that they were not
liable for Robert Courtney's tampering with the drugs Gemzar and Taxol,
made by Lilly and Squibb, respectively.
But Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Lee E. Wells told a courtroom
filled with Courtney's alleged victims and their relatives: ``I disagree
with the argument that Lilly and or Bristol had no duty to take any act
with the misuse of the drug after they knew what was going on.''
Courtney, 49, pleaded guilty last week to 20 counts of tampering with
and adulterating or misbranding drugs. He could get up to 30 years in
prison, and most of $10 million in assets will be used for restitution.
Asked whether Lilly planned to appeal the decision, spokeswoman Judy
Kay Moore said it was an option.
She also said the company was confident it did nothing wrong.
Contrary to the plaintiffs' claim that a sales representative was aware
of possible dilutions in early 2000, Moore said the company did not
suspect any wrongdoing until May 2001.
Soon after that meeting, the FBI began its probe of Courtney.
``We believe that it is absurd to hold the pharmaceutical companies
responsible for Robert Courtney's acts and that we acted both legally
and ethically in this case,'' Moore said.
Lilly attorney Marie Woodbury had argued that under the law -- even
if Lilly knew what Courtney was doing -- it had no duty to stop him. And
she said there is no evidence that Lilly knew about Courtney's actions.
She and Squibb attorney James Conlon also argued that the
pharmaceutical companies were not liable for the mishandling that took
place after the drugs left the companies' hands.
Michael Ketchmark, an attorney for patients in 173 of the lawsuits,
said the companies had a duty to warn patients. He said the companies
should have known about Courtney's actions because they track what
happens to the drugs from factory to the consumer.
``Not only didn't they call people or tell people, they kept giving
him the instrument of the crime,'' Ketchmark said.
The lawsuits also name the druggist and his business as defendants.
