Jury: Drug, Birth Defects Unrelated

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Friday that the anti-nausea prescription drug Bendectin did not cause birth defects in a 14-year-old La Palma boy whose mother took it during pregnancy.

The verdict in the case of Brandon Bityk against Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cincinnati came after a four-week trial before Judge Robert L. Roberson Jr. The parents had sought $5.5 million in general damages and $50 million in punitive damages, claiming they should have been warned that the drug could cause birth defects.

The boy was born without a right thigh. His knee was attached to his hip.

A spokesman for Merrell Dow said the case brought to 15 the number of Bendectin trials that have resulted in judgments or verdicts--12 of them favorable to the company. One of the cases, in which a Cincinnati federal court jury found in favor of the manufacturer two years ago, involved more than 1,100 plaintiffs.

Between 400 and 500 suits are awaiting trial. Some cases have been dismissed and a few others reportedly have been settled out of court for nominal amounts.

Bendectin, which for 27 years was the only prescription drug approved in the United States for the treatment of morning sickness, was discontinued by Merrell Dow in 1983 because of the hundreds of lawsuits filed by the parents of malformed children.

“We have not resumed manufacturing it, nor do we intend to resume it,” said company spokesman William R. Donaldson in Cincinnati on Friday. He pointed out that a certain number of all pregnancies result in deformed children and said the firm does not want to contend with more lawsuits from mothers who may have taken the drug and feel it is to blame.

The decision to quit manufacturing it was made shortly after a District of Columbia jury found Merrell Dow negligent in marketing the drug and awarded $750,000 to the family of a 12-year-old Maryland girl born with birth defects.

The trial judge later set aside that verdict on grounds that the evidence did not support the jury finding. But an appellate court panel reinstated it and the company is now awaiting a decision on its request for a rehearing before the entire court.

Terence Mix, the attorney for the plaintiffs in the Los Angeles case, could not be reached for comment.