Fw: Diluted Drug Case Evidence Unsealed

[Guest guest]

----- Original Message ----- From: Kathi

Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 5:43 PM

Subject: Diluted Drug Case Evidence Unsealed

Diluted Drug Case Evidence Unsealed KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A judge unsealed documents in a drug-tampering case Thursday that could reveal how much pharmaceutical companies knew about a convicted pharmacist's diluting of cancer drugs. pleaded guilty in February to charges of diluting cancer medications at a pharmacy he owned and is awaiting sentencing. County Circuit Judge Lee Wells, who is presiding over the first of about 400 civil lawsuits filed by hundreds of cancer victims and their relatives, on Thursday ordered all but three documents related to the case unsealed, plaintiffs' attorney Ketchmark said. Attorneys for both sides were allowing reporters to view the documents at midday Thursday. The lawsuits claim drug makers Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly & Co. knew or should have known that was watering down cancer drugs as early as 1998, but failed to stop him. The first of the lawsuits is scheduled for trial Oct. 7. Legal arguments in the other cases are nearly identical, so rulings in the first case are likely to determine the fate of the other suits. The drug companies had said it might be impossible to find an impartial jury if the documents are released before the trial. 2002-09-12 17:10:14 GMT http://news.findlaw.com/ap/o/1110/9-12-2002/20020912101504_38.html