Richardson v. Richardson-Merrell

649 F. Supp. 799 (1986)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Richardson-Merrell (D) is a distributor of 'Bendectin,' a medicine taken by pregnant women to alleviate morning sickness. Richardson's (P) mother took the medicine while she was pregnant with P. P was born deformed. P sued D, alleging that Bendectin caused the birth defects because the medicine was taken at the time the limbs were forming. Experts on both sides said that birth defects occur in 2-4% of all life births. P used circumstantial evidence and the testimony of experts to show that the birth defects were a result of D's medication. Dr. Done, an expert for P, claimed that D's drug 'in fact' caused the defects. D denied P's allegations but had no other evidence of another cause. Therefore, they attributed the defects to an 'unknown cause.' D also used experts to show that the effects of drugs tested on animals are not always the same as humans. They continued that only a small fraction of problems on animals have affected humans. The jury awarded P an award of $1.16 million. D moved for a J.N.O.V. or a new trial.