Four sisters who claimed their breast cancer was caused by a drug their mother took during pregnancy in the 1950s have reached a settlement with a pharmaceutical company in Boston.
Attorney Julie Oliver-Zhang says the deal with Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. is for an undisclosed amount. She says it was reached Wednesday, January 9th on the second day of a federal court trial.
Eli Lilly says it still believes its medication didn't cause the sisters' conditions but a settlement is in its best interest. It says the terms are confidential.
A lawyer for the sisters said in trial openings Eli Lilly failed to test the drug's effect on fetuses before promoting it as a way to prevent miscarriages.
A lawyer for Eli Lilly said that there was no evidence the drug causes breast cancer in the daughters of women who took it or that the mother of the four sisters took it.
The sisters' case was the first to go to trial out of scores of similar claims filed around the country.
