Abbott Laboratories Target of Four Additional Suits Claiming Flawed Tests Caused Unnecessary Medical Procedures Including Hysterectomies.

Health/Medical Writers & Legal Editors

CHICAGO--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 27, 2001

Abbott Confirms Suspicions of its Problems

in Letters to Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), a leading manufacturer of medical diagnostic tests and pharmaceutical products, today was hit with four more lawsuits filed by women claiming that one of the company's most common testing procedures returned flawed results, leading to unnecessary cancer treatments including chemotherapy and a hysterectomy.

According to the allegations in the complaint filed by Steve Berman, the Seattle attorney who filed the suits on behalf of the four plaintiffs, Abbott Laboratories knew of the defect, and failed to provide adequate warning about the potential for false readings to medical professionals. The complaint also asserts that Abbott knew of an inexpensive chemical blocking agent that would have eliminated false positive readings.

The suits are filed on behalf of four women who say they underwent unnecessary medical treatments based on flawed results from the Abbott tests. These suits join three others filed in 1999 by Berman on behalf of other injured women against Abbott involving the same issue.

All four of the plaintiffs in the suits endured needless and crippling chemotherapy treatments, some so severe that they had to be administered on an inpatient basis. Three of the women underwent unnecessary surgical procedures, including one undergoing a hysterectomy, the suit alleges. As a result of these procedures some of the plaintiffs can no longer have children, should they wish to.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the suits contend that the Abbott (beta)-hCG test kit, used with its AxSYM testing machine falsely reported high levels of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). High levels of hCG indicate pregnancy, but in absence of pregnancy can be an indicator of serious medical conditions including a rare form of cancer called trophoblastic disease.

"This is a truly tragic situation," Berman noted. "Physicians relied on the Abbott test to help guide treatment. These physicians were ordering toxic regimens of chemotherapy and even hysterectomies based on the flawed test results. Imagine the pain these woman now feel knowing they went through these procedures for no valid medical reason," Berman added.

In response to the earlier suits, in January 2001, Abbott mailed letters to pathologists stating that its test packet "may render results that are inconsistent with clinical observations," and warned that other tests should be used to confirm results from its test kit.

Berman believes and intends to prove that "this warning is too little and too late to help many patients, including the plaintiffs. We intend to ask Judge Wayne Andersen, who is presiding over the current case, for additional and more meaningful warnings," Berman stated.

The suits claim that Abbott Labs violated a number of laws including negligence, breach of implied warranty and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

About Hagens Berman

Steve Berman is managing partner of Hagens Berman in Seattle. Recently cited as one of the nation's top 100 attorneys by The National Law Journal, Berman is a nationally recognized expert in class action litigation. Berman represented Washington State, Illinois and 11 other states in lawsuits against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the history of litigation. Berman also served as counsel in several other high-profile cases including the Washington Public Power Supply litigation, which resulted in a settlement exceeding $850 million. Other cases include litigation involving the Exxon Valdez oil spill; Louisiana Pacific Siding; The Boeing Company; Morrison Knudsen; Piper Jaffray; Nordstrom; Boston Chicken; and Noah's Bagels.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Plaintiff names and background material, as well as copies of the complaint, are available to accredited members of the media by contacting Mark Firmani at 206/443-9357 or [e-mail].