$182.6 Million Verdict Against Drug Companies in Las Vegas Hepatitis C Outbreak

In 2008, health officials in Southern Nevada traced a hepatitis C outbreak to a group of Las Vegas endoscopy clinics where staff had been reusing propofol vials across multiple patients. The state health division ultimately identified thousands of people who may have been exposed. For a small number of those patients -- Robert Sacks, Anne Arnold, James Arnold, Anthony Devito, and Donna Devito -- the infections were confirmed, and they turned to the courts.

The plaintiffs sued not the clinics, which had already faced separate legal action, but the pharmaceutical companies that supplied the anesthetic. Their theory was specific: Teva Parenteral Medicines manufactured and sold propofol in 50-milliliter vials at a time when standard outpatient colonoscopy doses ran between 10 and 20 milliliters. Baxter Healthcare and McKesson distributed those vials to the clinics. The companies, the plaintiffs argued, knew smaller single-use vials were appropriate for the setting, yet continued shipping the larger containers without clear warnings against reuse -- creating the conditions for cross-contamination.

Robert Eglet and co-counsel Robert Adams tried the case before Judge Ronald Israel. During closing arguments, Eglet described the 50-milliliter containers as 'jumbo vials of infection' and argued that the defendants understood the risk their packaging created. The jury agreed. On October 6, 2011, it found all three companies liable on most claims -- not for a defective product itself, but for failing to adequately warn and monitor how their product was being used.

The compensatory phase produced $20.1 million: $8.5 million to Anne Arnold, $5 million each to Sacks and Anthony Devito, $900,000 to James Arnold, and $700,000 to Donna Devito. Punitive damages, awarded four days later on October 10, added another $162.5 million. Teva bore the largest share at $89.4 million, followed by Baxter at $55.3 million and McKesson at $17.9 million. The combined total came to $182.6 million. Teva stated it would appeal.