IUD's longest case settles at 40 mil

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/Daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=6746

Sep 04, 2001]
After 14 years, Australia's "longest-running and most expensive product liability case," in which more than 300 women sued a contraceptive device maker, was settled on Aug. 30 in the Court of Appeals, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Although the women involved in the suit agreed to settle the $40 million (Australian) case, the terms have not been disclosed (Connolly, Sydney Morning Herald, 8/31). In 1987, the women filed suit against GD Searle, alleging that the company's contraceptive device, the Copper-7 IUD, caused health problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease (Australasian Business Intelligence, 8/31). As part of the resolution, the court ruled in favor of GD Searle in the cases of nine women who began the lawsuit; the remaining women agreed to "cease" action on the case. However, Peter Cashman, the women's attorney, said that his clients did not lose the case, adding, "There are no winners or losers. After this long period of time there was just no end in sight and no one was relishing a retrial so the parties agreed to resolve the litigation" (Sydney Morning Herald, 8/31).



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