 |
|
|
|
|
Supreme Court Rejects Limits on Drug-Injury Lawsuits
|
| | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 The high court's decision is likely to unleash a torrent of similar lawsuits around the country.
"The court opinion not only declined to tell pharmaceutical companies that they could have this kind of immunity, it, in fact, pushed somewhat in the other direction," said Benjamin C. Zipursky, professor of law at Fordham Law School in New York City and visiting professor at Harvard Law School in Boston.
"Some trial lawyers who had been hesitant to bring claims against pharmaceutical companies are now going to be more willing to do so," Zipursky said. "A number of cases that were stayed in state and federal court pending this decision will now go forward and go forward with a more plaintiff-oriented posture. This is going to change the balance of incentives for lawyers who are thinking about suing pharmaceutical companies to make them more willing to sue and make trial judges and appellate courts less willing to throw out weak cases."
Text Continues Below
Wolfman added: "In general, it's going to mean that these claims are not pre-empted and that people with drug and injury claims are going to be able to sue for damages and get to a jury and, if the jury agrees, be compensated for that."
The high court's 6-3 decision essentially upended moves by the Bush administration to protect drug makers from lawsuits as long as the product was FDA-approved.
Many watchers had predicted that the court would decide the other way, Zipursky said.
"It was a surprise in two respects," he said. People had believed "that whatever the court did, it would rule narrowly and, in fact, the decision is quite broad."
More information
To learn more about the case, visit the U.S. Supreme Court.
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2
|
Copyright © 2009 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 3/4/2009
|
|
SOURCES: Brian Wolfman, director, litigation group, Public Citizen, Washington, D.C.; Benjamin C. Zipursky, J.D., Ph.D., professor of law, Fordham Law School, New York City, and visiting professor, Harvard Law School, Boston; March 4, 2009, prepared statement, PhRMA; March 4, 2009, press conference, Diana Levine, Vermont
|
.gif)
