May 4, 2010 (United Press International) -- Jurors deliberated for a second day Tuesday in the Nevada trial of a lawsuit by a man who blames pharmaceutical companies for his infection with hepatitis C.
No verdict had been reported by mid-afternoon.
Henry Chanin, headmaster of The Meadows School, is seeking damages from Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc. and Baxter Healthcare (NYSE:BAX) Corp., The Las Vegas Sun reports. One of the companies made and the other distributed the anesthetic used at the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Clinic, where Chanin was infected in 2006.
Chanin also sued the clinic and doctors there, but those claims have been settled.
Robert Eglet, Chanin's lawyer, in his closing argument Friday called the vials used to package the anesthetic "weapons of mass infection." He said they were too large, encouraging hospitals and clinics to use vials for more than one patient.
A lawyer for one of the companies said the anesthetic is packaged in several sizes of vials so doctors can pick the appropriate amount.
Chanin, on the witness stand, said his infection was controlled after several weeks of treatment. But he said it could recur and could also lead to cancer of the liver and cirrhosis.
