http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a407q_TaJiXs&refer=home
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court bolstered patient lawsuits against drugmakers, upholding a $7 million award to a woman who lost her arm after being injected with Wyeth’s Phenergan nausea treatment. The justices, voting 6-3, said patients can use state product- liability laws to accuse companies of failing to provide adequate safety warnings. Drugmakers had argued that they were shielded from suit by the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a treatment and its packaging information. “Congress did not intend FDA oversight to be the exclusive means of ensuring drug safety and effectiveness,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the court. The ruling is a defeat for drug companies in a case that might have given them a broad shield from product-liability suits. Injured patients and their families are pressing thousands of suits around the country, seeking billions of dollars in damages from drug companies. The ruling is a victory for Diana Levine, 63, a children’s musician who says Wyeth should have warned against the injection method that caused gangrene in her right arm. Justices Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas joined Stevens in the majority. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito dissented. The case is Wyeth v. Levine, 06-1249. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
