Bruce Berger Obtains Defense Verdict on behalf of Novartis

Bruce Berger reports that he and his firm obtained a complete defense verdict on behalf of Novartis in Hogan v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., a case which arose out of a federal MDL. After a week and a half long trial in the EDNY (Brooklyn division), the jury deliberated for just 5 hours before concluding that plaintiff could not prove that Novartis' cancer drug Zometa(r) caused her late husband's jaw condition. Hogan was the second defense verdict Hollingsworth LLP secured in this mass product liability litigation in which plaintiffs allege that their use of Zometa(r) and Aredia(r) -- drugs prescribed to prevent serious skeletal-related injuries in cancer patients whose cancer has metastasized to their bones and in multiple myeloma patients - caused them to develop osteonecrosis of the jaw.

Bruce reports that, in a significant pre-trial ruling, the Court (Judge Brian Cogan) granted a Daubert motion excluding testimony from ubiquitous plaintiff expert Dr. Suzanne Parisian. In granting the motion, the Court stated that Dr. Parisian and plaintiff's other experts were improperly acting as "superlawyers" advocating conclusions that plaintiff wants the jury to reach, but which belong only in summation, not expert testimony.