Drug Liability

Mutual Pharmaceutical Company v. Bartlett: How the Decision Affects Us

By on July 18, 2013 - Comments off

In our previous blog post, we discussed the Supreme Court decision to prevent consumers from seeking legal recourse for injuries caused by defective generic drugs under preemption laws. The decision favors manufacturers and is conceptually in conflict with the 2009 Supreme Court ruling that brand-name manufacturers may be sued for damages caused by drug defects. If brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers can be held accountable for unsafe drugs, then generic drug manufacturers should also be responsible for theirs.

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Senator Harkin and Representative Waxman File Brief on Preemption in Bartlett Supreme Court Decision

By on March 18, 2013 - Comments off

Senator Tom Harkin and Representative Henry A. Waxman have filed a brief of amici curiae in support of Karen L. Bartlett over the Supreme Court of the United State’s decision in the case of Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. v. Karen L. Bartlett. The brief concerns pharmaceutical regulation and federal preemption under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and the Hatch-Waxman Amendments, of which Representative Waxman was co-sponsor during its creation in 1984. Under preemption, federal law overrides state law. In regard to issues of defective drugs or product liability, preemption would mean that plaintiffs can’t file claims in state court if a federal agency such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved the product in question.

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