Judge Robert Perry of Washoe County, Nev., reduced the award to Arlene Rowatt, Jeraldine Scofield and Pamela Forrester to about $57.6 million, including $35 million in punitive damages.
Perry said the cut was warranted because the size of the judgments in the case suggested the panel was motivated by "passion or prejudice" against Wyeth.
The three women claimed that Wyeth's Prempro, an anti-menopause drug, caused their breast cancer. Perry said the women had offered "very limited evidence and argument in support of compensatory damages," limited primarily to past medical bills.
Still, the reduced judgment remains the largest personal injury award in Nevada history, and it is the largest award to date against the Wyeth, which faces about 5,300 similar lawsuits across the country in state and federal courts.
All the cases involve the drugs Premarin, an estrogen replacement, and Prempro, a combination of estrogen and progestin.
Wyeth officials welcomed the ruling but still planned to appeal.
