HONOLULU — A Hawaii court has ordered the manufacturers and distributors of the blood thinner Plavix to pay the state a combined $916 million after finding theThe judgement was issued against Bristol Myers Squibb Company and three U.S.-based subsidiaries of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi.
First Circuit Court Judge James Ashford found that there was a risk that about 30% of patients, particularly non-Caucasians, might have a “diminished response” to Plavix but the companies didn’t update their label, Attorney General Anne Lopez said. Hawaii filed the lawsuit in 2014, saying more than 1 million Plavix prescriptions had been issued in the islands since 1998 when the drug was first marketed.Hawaii study shows almost 75% of Maui wildfire survey participants have respiratory issuesHawaii was the fifth state to file a lawsuit claiming unfair and deceptive marketing of Plavix, after Louisiana, Mississippi, West Virginia and California.