Supreme Court to Hear Drug Liability Case Monday

Joy125 — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:18:00 GMT

The US Supreme Court hears arguments on Monday, November 3, in a closely watched case that could limit liability claims against drugmakers if one of their medicines causes harm.

From Kaiser Network:

Plaintiff attorneys in Wyeth v. Levine, a U.S. Supreme Court case that could determine whether patients have the ability to file product liability lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies in state courts, on Thursday requested that the court add to the case record documents from FDA officials who expressed opposition to pre-emption, Dow Jones reports. Supporters of pre-emption, a legal principle under which federal laws supersede state laws, maintain that FDA approval of medication labels pre-empts the ability of consumers to file lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies under state product liability laws.

For rest of article see:

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55309

For background on Wyeth vs. Levine see Bloomberg article:

Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Children's musician Diana Levine watched her right hand gradually turn black in the six weeks after she was injected with a Wyeth anti-nausea drug. The pain, so powerful even morphine couldn't mask it, subsided only when doctors amputated the arm just below the elbow.

``It was totally shocking to wake up to this,'' said Levine, motioning toward her sleeve-covered stump as she sat in the kitchen of her Marshfield, Vermont, farmhouse. ``I just didn't think it would be that short. It took me quite a while to be able to look at it, to unwrap the bandage.''

Levine's story -- and the $7 million judgment she won from a Vermont state jury -- comes before the U.S. Supreme Court next week. Wyeth and other drugmakers are asking the court to put new limits on patient lawsuits over medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

For rest of article see:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=agDNyswitQ88&refer=home

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Supreme Court to Hear Drug Liability Case Monday