Business Update

Boost in costs for diet drug litigation drags Wyeth to fourth-quarter loss

Published in Medical Device Law Weekly, February 27th, 2005

The drugmaker Wyeth on January 31, 2005, reported a fourth-quarter loss driven by an increase in the amount of money set aside to cover costs from lawsuits brought by people who suffered heart damage from taking the fen-phen diet drug combination in the 1990s. Its shares tumbled nearly 8%.

The Madison-based company said it increased the reserve to $21.1 billion for fen-phen payouts and legal costs, from $17 billion last year, of which $7.2 billion remains.

For the first time, the company believes that the remainder represents the "best estimate" of the total remaining cost of the litigation, said Robert Essner, Wyeth's chairman, president and...

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Source: Medical Device Law Weekly (2005-02-27)

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