8th Cir. Upholds Compensatory Damages Award in Aredia/Zometa ONJ Case

ST. LOUIS — A federal appeals court has upheld a trial court’s award of $225,000 in compensatory damages to an Aredia/Zometa plaintiff, finding a reasonably jury could conclude that the injuries alleged were proximately caused by Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp.’s failure to adequately warn the prescribing doctor.

However, in a Jan. 9 opinion, the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found the trial court erred in awarding the plaintiff full costs for litigation-wide depositions. Such costs should be allocated, the court explained.

In 2006, Christine Winter, as executor of Ruth Baldwin’s estate, sued Novartis in the U.S. District Court for the …