Patient Drug Lawsuits Curbed by U.S. Supreme Court
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The U.S. Supreme Court reinforced its bar on lawsuits by patients against generic-drug makers, overturning a $21 million award to a woman who suffered debilitating injuries after taking a generic painkiller.
The justices, voting 5-4, said the federal drug-approval regime prevented Karen L. Bartlett from claiming the medication’s design was unreasonably dangerous in violation of New Hampshire product-liability law. Bartlett sued Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., a drugmaker sold earlier this year by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. to Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.