Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- A Pfizer Inc. unit must pay an undisclosed amount of punitive damages to an Illinois woman who developed breast cancer after taking one of the drugmaker’s menopause treatments, a Philadelphia jury said yesterday.

Jurors deliberated 25 minutes before finding Pfizer’s Wyeth subsidiary was responsible for paying an award to Connie Barton. The specific amount of the award was sealed by the trial judge immediately after it was returned.

In September, the same jury awarded Barton $3.7 million in compensatory damages over the cancer linked to Wyeth’s Prempro hormone-replacement drug. Barton, 64, developed invasive breast cancer five years after she began taking the drug.

“When the jury gets to hear all the evidence” in Prempro cases, punitive damage awards are no surprise, said Esther Berezofsky, one of Barton’s lawyers. She refused to comment on the size of the award.

The judge ordered yesterday’s verdict sealed until another Prempro trial in the same courthouse is completed. Lawyers in that case say it could take another three weeks to wrap up.

“We are disappointed with the jury’s verdict, and will weigh all of our legal options regarding our next steps in this case,” Chris Loder, a Pfizer spokesman, said in an e-mailed statement. “We believe there is no basis in fact or law for either damage award in this case.”

$68 Billion Buyout

More than 6 million women have taken hormone-replacement medicines to treat menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. Until 1995, many patients combined Premarin, Wyeth’s estrogen-based drug, with progestin-laden Provera, made by Upjohn, another Pfizer unit.

Wyeth, based in Madison, New Jersey, later combined the two hormones in Prempro. The drugs are still on the market. New York-based Pfizer completed its $68 billion purchase of Wyeth Oct. 15.

Wyeth lawyers asked Judge Sandra Moss, who oversees all product-liability cases in the Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, to seal the Barton verdict because the trial of another Prempro lawsuit had begun in another courtroom.

News reports about Barton’s punitive damage award raised concerns the other jury could be “tainted by publicity,” Michael Scott, one of the drugmaker’s lawyers, told Moss at a hearing yesterday.

Zoe Littlepage, another of Barton’s lawyers, countered Wyeth couldn’t show news about the award would cause the company “actual harm,” as required by Pennsylvania law.

Balancing Test

Moss said she had to “balance the public’s right to know” with concerns about litigants getting a fair trial in deciding to seal the verdict.

She said as soon as the next Prempro trial is completed, she’ll unseal the Barton verdict and another punitive award handed down in a 2007 Prempro case.

In Barton’s case, Judge Norman Ackerman instructed jurors not to reveal their verdict until being advised by the court that the award had been unsealed. Barton, her lawyers and Wyeth’s lawyers were able to review the award.

The case is Barton v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., 040406301, Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jef Feeley in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court at jfeeley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 27, 2009 00:01 EDT