Patients' generic-drug lawsuits questioned by U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court grappled with the limits on patients' lawsuits against drugmakers, questioning a $21 million award to a woman who suffered debilitating injuries after taking a painkiller.
Hearing arguments today in Washington, the justices debated whether to reinforce a two-year-old ruling that shielded generic-drug companies from claims that they failed to warn about possibly dangerous side effects.
Drug companies say a federal appeals court blasted a hole in that ruling by upholding the $21 million award against a Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. unit. The lower court said the patient, Karen L. Bartlett, was pressing a different legal theory, focusing on the dangerousness of the drug itself rather than the adequacy of the warning.
A ruling in favor of generic companies might also benefit brand-name drugmakers.
The case is Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, 12-142.
--Editors: Laurie Asseo, Steven Komarow
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohrbloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1bloomberg.net