Trial Court Properly Imposed Costs on Plaintiff at Conclusion of Zometa Trial, 2nd Cir. Rules

NEW YORK — A trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing costs on a plaintiff in her individual capacity after a jury found in favor of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NYSE: NVS) in a Zometa injury trial, a federal appeals court has ruled, because the plaintiff had no authority to sue the drug maker as the representative of her late husband’s estate.

However, in the Dec 17 order, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied Novartis’ motion to impose sanctions on the plaintiff’s lawyer for misrepresenting the plaintiff as the executor of the estate in the appeal. The …