Keith Jensen obtained the largest verdict in NH history and that case is before the U.S. Supreme Court
Published: March 10, 2013
A New Hampshire woman who was severely injured by a generic drug in 2004 is still struggling to hold the manufacturer liable. Hercase will be argued this month before the Supreme Court, which has already severely limited the ability of consumers to sue generic manufacturers and may well limit it further. If so, some way must be found to compensate this plaintiff, Karen Bartlett, and others who have been hurt by generic drugs, which account for 80 percent of all prescriptions in this country.
Ms. Bartlett suffered a rare but severe reaction to an anti-inflammatory drug, sulindac, a generic form of the drug a doctor prescribed to treat shoulder pain. The reaction permanently damaged her lungs and esophagus, disfigured her face and body, and left her legally blind.
She sued the manufacturer, the Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, a subsidiary of an Indian drug maker, and was awarded $21 million by a Federal District Court jury in 2010. That amount included $16.5 million for pain and suffering, which Mutual challenged as excessive. A federal appeals court in Boston, however, upheld the verdict.
