By Matt Fair .
Law360, Philadelphia May 11, 2015 .
A Johnson & Johnson unit said Monday it planned to move forward with an appeal after a Pennsylvania state judge issued an opinion last week in support of a $3 million verdict awarded to a woman who claimed that the anti-epilepsy drug Topamax caused birth defects in her daughter.
Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that the opinion, which slammed the company for a redundant and unwieldy filing listing the issues it intended to raise on appeal, cleared the way for a full airing of the case before the Pennsylvania Superior Court.
“What was released last week was a pro forma response from the trial court, explaining its rulings from a trial that ended a little over a year ago. We have been unable to appeal the verdict until this response was issued,” a Janssen spokeswoman said. “We now look forward to raising the legal rulings from the trial with the appellate court.”
Janssen’s attempts to challenge the verdict may not get far, however, if the Superior Court accepts Judge Ramy Djerassi’s contention that the pharmaceutical giant waived its right to an appeal by flouting an order warning that the company not be redundant, frivolous or long-winded in its statement of the perceived errors in the case.
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