Judge Reduces $8 Million Fosamax Verdict; Sanctions Plaintiff's Lawyer

NEW YORK - A New York federal judge has reduced an "unreasonably high" $8 million verdict to $1.5 million in a Fosamax bellwether case, deeming it "unreasonably high," and sanctioned a plaintiff's lawyer $2,500 for disregarding a pretrial order on the issue of punitive damages. In re Fosamax Products Liability Litigation, No. 06-09455 (S.D. N.Y.).

In the Oct. 4 opinion, Judge John F. Keenan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York also denied Merck & Co.'s motions for judgment as a matter of law and a new trial, ruling that plaintiff Shirley Boles presented enough …