OROVILLE, Calif. -- A jury Friday ruled four drug companies were blameless in a $50 million lawsuit brought by a couple who charged their son contracted Reye's syndrome by taking aspirin.
The Butte County Superior Court jury deliberated less than four hours before ruling that Larry Alan Bunch Jr. did not have Reye's syndrome and was not entitled to damages.
Bunch's parents, Larry and Isabelle Bunch, charged in their 1985 lawsuit that the 9-year-old boy suffered brain damage from taking aspirin while he was ill with chicken pox in April 1983.
The parents said they were shocked by the ruling.
'We were hoping for the best. I had hoped that the truth would prevail and it hasn't. It's going to be hard to put my faith back in God again. It really is,' Isabelle Bunch said.
The testimony of medical experts called by each side was sharply divided. The Bunches' medical witnesses said the boy had Reye's syndrome and that aspirin could have been the cause.
Doctors for the defense testified his affliction was encephalitis or hepatitis, not Reye's syndrome.
'I think justice was done,' said Jack Knabel, one of six defense lawyers on the case. He expressed sympathy for the boy, but pointed out the jury was able to discriminate in judging the testimony of the medical experts.
The family's lawyer, Robert Davis, said they had not decided whether to appeal the decision.
Four manufacturers and distributors of aspirin compounds were defendants in the case: Sterling Drug Co., makers of Bayer Aspirin; Norwich-Eaton Inc., makers of RDR aspirin; and two distributors, Whiteworth Inc. and Rawson Drug and Sundry.
Reye's syndrome is a rare disease that usually attacks children, causing neurological disorders, swelling of the brain and enlargement of the liver.
Early symptoms can include a rash, vomiting and confusion.
Since 1985, the federal government has required warning labels on aspirin bottles advising consultation with a doctor about Reye's syndrome before giving the drug to children or teenagers.
The suit charged the four companies failed to warn the public even though they knew about reports of a link between aspirin and Reye's syndrome dating back to the 1960s.
