Buoyed by a Texas court precedent limiting the testimony that plaintiffs can elicit from chairmen of a corporation they sue, American Home Products is trying to close the door on the remaining litigation over its diet drug fen-phen.
The Madison, N.J.-based company succeeded in blocking temporarily the depositions of chairman and CEO Jack Stafford and Dr. Bruce Burlington, AHP’s Food and Drug Administration expert, which were scheduled for today in Kerr v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, 98-07-02570E, a suit on behalf of two Houston women, Berle Dee Kerr and Dora Barton, who claim to have developed valvular heart disorders from using the diet drug. Trial has been set for March before District Court Judge Frederick Edwards, in Conroe, Texas.
