On Friday, October 9, in a case pending in the US District Court in New Mexico between DENTSPLY, York, Pa, and Guidance Endodontics, Albuquerque, NM, a jury voted 6-3 to return a verdict against DENTSPLY, according to an announcement from the company. According to DENTSPLY, the verdict came in the amount of approximately $4 million for compensatory and $40 million in punitive damages.

In an announcement about the verdict DENTSPLY stated that it believes the decision is “clearly not supported by the facts in the case nor the applicable law” and intends to pursue all available options to challenge it.

The case centered on an alleged breach of contract under a 2008 agreement between DENTSPLY and Guidance Endodontics. Prior to trial, Guidance Endodontics claimed that it had damages of approximately $1.2 million as a result of the alleged breach.

In the announcement DENTSPLY went on to say that it believes that it did not breach the contract nor act unlawfully in any manner, and that the award of punitive damages is “completely unwarranted and contrary to applicable law." The company stated that it believes that the decision should be overturned.

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