Advertisement

SERIES WATCH

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
SCMP Reporter

World, 10pm

There's hot courtroom action tonight when Jimmy Berluti (Michael Badalucco, top right) and Eugene Young (Steve Harris, second top right) help hapless Harland Bassett (Ernie Sabella) in his long-shot suit against a pharmaceutical firm on behalf of a teenage girl with severe liver damage.

Bassett establishes the girl, Annie, had a sinus infection for which the doctor prescribed an antibiotic called Reflexin, and that shortly after taking the drug, her liver failed. It is found that Reflexin has been tested only on adults, yet paediatricians routinely prescribe such drugs to children.

Advertisement

The defence lawyer establishes the girl lied when she claimed never to have drunk alcohol but as a witness for the defence, the doctor testifies that Reflexin almost certainly did not cause Annie's liver damage.

On cross-examination, Bassett makes the point that the doctors who approve drugs for the Food and Drug Administration often have strong financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry and that Reflexin won approval in an unusually short time.

Advertisement

Can Bassett win a case against a politically tied, deep-pocketed drug manufacturer on the strength of his closing argument?

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x