Court Accepts Diabetes Drug Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether Michigan plaintiffs may sue the maker of the diabetes drug Rezulin despite a state law that restricts pharmaceutical suits.
The Food and Drug Administration asked that the drug be removed from the market after concerns arose that it caused liver damage in some patients, reports Dow Jones Newswires. A federal trial judge dismissed the Michigan claims because of a law that bars lawsuits against the makers of FDA-approved drugs unless they withheld information from the agency.
But the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the suits. “Because of its important role in state regulation of matters of health and safety, common law liability cannot be easily displaced in our federal system,” the panel said.
SCOTUSblog posted the cert petition (PDF) filed by drugmaker Warner-Lambert Co.
