FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sharon Christal
SCM Public Relations
702.737.1448
L to R
Robert T. Eglet, Senior Partner, Eglet Wall Law Firm and Lead Trial Attorney, Henry Chanin, Plaintiff, Lorraine Chanin, Plaintiff & Will Kemp, Attorney for Lorraine Chanin.
MAINOR EGLET RECEIVES LARGEST VERDICT IN NEVADA HISTORY
$500 MILLION
A Las Vegas Jury Ordered Two Drug Companies To Pay A Combined Award of $500 Million In Punitive Damages To Man Stricken With Hepatitis C
Las Vegas, Nevada...A jury ordered TEVA Parenteral Medicines, Inc. and Baxter Health Care Corporation to pay Henry Chanin and his wife Lorraine Chanin $500 million in punitive damages stemming from the largest hepatitis C outbreak in recorded history.
Henry Chanin was also awarded $3.25 million and his wife Lorraine Chanin $1.85 million in compensatory damages in addition to the punitive award handed down today in Clark County District Court.
Henry Chanin, Headmaster of Meadows, the prestigious college prepatory school, was contaminated after a routine colonoscopy in June 2006 requiring interferon treatments to control the effects of hepatitis C.
Attorney's for Henry Chanin and wife Lorraine Chanin, filed a lawsuit in Clark County District Court against defendants, Desert Shadow Endoscopy; Gastroenterology Center of Nevada; Rajat Sood MD; Dena Wilson RN; Bobbie Glass-Seran CRNA; SICOR
Pharmaceuticals; SICOR Inc.; Baxter Health Care Corporation; McKessen Corporation and Quality Care Consultants.
Desert Shadow Endoscopy; Gastroenterology Center of Nevada; Rajat Sood MD; Dena Wilson RN and Bobbie Glass-Seran CRNA settled in this case prior to the start of the trial.
The Chanin complaint alleged product liability, negligence and disregard of known and accepted medical procedures, resulting in Henry Chanin contracting HEP C from exposure to contaminated vials of Propofol.
In what began in 2008 with a notification from the Department of Health to 50,000 Nevada residents to be checked by their health care professional for possible exposure to HIV and Hepatitis, Henry Chanin and his wife Lorraine Chanin received the verdict nearly two years after filing the complaint.
The four week trial included the largest jury pool in Nevada's history. Over 500 potential jurors were required to complete a questionnaire consisting of 36 pages and 99 questions to ultimately identify the 8 jurors that passed down the unprecedented verdict.
While the largest notification in the country of this kind urged patients of the Southern Nevada Endoscopy Center seen between March 2004 and January 11, 2008 to consult their health care professional for possible exposure, questions remain as to whether the potentially deadly practice occurred prior to the dates established by the Department of Health. The clinic opened for business in 2000.
Exposure to HIV and Hepatitis strains C and B occurred when single dose vials of anesthesia medication, Propofol, were used on multiple patients. A syringe was re-used to withdraw medication from the single dose vial creating a back flow of blood resulting in contamination.
"A $1.7 million offer of judgment to settle was ignored by the defense bringing the Chanin's to this point. At the core of this case is the responsibility of the pharmaceutical companies as well as that of the health care professionals. The conduct of the doctors and nurses demonstrated a disregard for human life in the reuse of contaminated vials and syringes. Equally, the pharmaceutical companies were responsible for providing 50 ml vials of Propofol to ambulatory centers that would require no more than 10ml to 20 ml bottles because profit dictated the decision to do so. The larger size vials encouraged multi-dosing becoming weapons of mass infection," says Robert Eglet, Senior Partner, Eglet Wall and lead trial counsel for this case. "The result is nearly immeasurable."
"148 reported cases of contamination throughout the U.S. and globally occurred prior to Mr. Chanin contracting Hepatitis C without a change in policy on the part of these companies. TEVA and Baxter combined made 13.4 billion last year. The $500 million verdict represents two weeks of income to these companies. The jury understood the importance of sending a message to stop putting profit over patient safety and making sure this never happens again," says Robert Eglet.
Robert Eglet represents 40 more infected people. The next trial date for Eglet Wall is October 18, 2010.
Robert Eglet who won the largest personal injury verdict in Nevada's history in 2007, $41.5 million, argued the case with partners Robert Cottle and Robert Adams.
For media information contact Sharon Christal 702.610.5632. Eglet Wall is located at 400 S. 4th Street, 6th floor, Las Vegas, NV 89101 - www.egletwall.com.
