Baxter International, a company that manufacturers blood products and intravenous drugs, is suing Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in order to enforce an indemnity agreement over claims the drugmakers sold the anesthetic propofol in a way that led patients to contract hepatitis, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek report.
Baxter contended in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit that an arbitration panel found Teva was bound by an agreement to cover liability stemming from cases that linked the development of hepatitis C in colonoscopy patients to tainted vials of propofol.
A Las Vegas jury ordered Teva and Baxter to pay more than $500 million in damages to a patient who contracted hepatitis C from a tainted propofol vial last year. This suit comes as a Las Vegas jury is hearing testimony in three more cases alleging officials from the two companies sold propofol in overly large vials that encourage medical personnel to reuse them.
In a February SEC filing, Teva officials said the indemnification agreement with Baxter "does not extend to punitive damages," according to the report. The officials acknowledged in a later regulatory filing that an arbitration panel ruled 2-1 that the agreement covered punitive awards.
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Baxter contended in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit that an arbitration panel found Teva was bound by an agreement to cover liability stemming from cases that linked the development of hepatitis C in colonoscopy patients to tainted vials of propofol.
A Las Vegas jury ordered Teva and Baxter to pay more than $500 million in damages to a patient who contracted hepatitis C from a tainted propofol vial last year. This suit comes as a Las Vegas jury is hearing testimony in three more cases alleging officials from the two companies sold propofol in overly large vials that encourage medical personnel to reuse them.
In a February SEC filing, Teva officials said the indemnification agreement with Baxter "does not extend to punitive damages," according to the report. The officials acknowledged in a later regulatory filing that an arbitration panel ruled 2-1 that the agreement covered punitive awards.
Related Articles on Anesthesia:
The Medicare Bundled Payment Initiative: An Alert From Anesthesia Business Consultants
American Society of Anesthesiologists Comments on 2012 CMS Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule
Physician Assistant's License Suspended Over Fatal Anesthesia Error