Trial Is Averted in Miscarriage Drug Lawsuit
A lawsuit in which an Orange County woman claimed she had developed cancer as a result of an anti-miscarriage drug prescribed for her mother has been settled just as it was scheduled to go to trial.
Joseph A. Shaub, the attorney for Nanette Walker, 25, of Orange and her mother, Mildred Serdahley, said Friday that a settlement was reached this week in a conference with Superior Court Judge Jerrold S. Oliver. Shaub declined to disclose the terms of the agreement.
At age 19, Walker underwent a hysterectomy after developing a rare form of cervical cancer as well as other vaginal abnormalities, her suit claimed. Her doctor was convinced, according to the lawsuit, that it was caused by DES, or diethylstilbestrol, a drug widely prescribed for pregnant women until it was banned in 1971 by the Food and Drug Administration.
Defendants in the lawsuit, which sought $1 million in damages, were Eli Lilly & Co., E.R. Squibb and Sons Inc., Upjohn Co. and Boyle & Co.
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