Key takeaways: The legal claims against Novo Nordisk are not about banning the drug. They are about accountability and informed consent. The core of these lawsuits is the product liability principle known as “failure to...more
In 2022, over 500 plaintiffs filed a case alleging that Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a drug manufacturing company, failed to provide adequate warnings that one of their drugs increased the risk of atypical femoral fractures....more
In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) told industry that it would begin enforcing the agency’s cigarette graphic warning rule in December 2025 in an enforcement policy outlined in a short guidance...more
As of May 2022, Monsanto, the company that developed the allegedly cancer-causing weed killer Roundup, has settled more than 100,000 lawsuits, and paid nearly $11 billion in settlements. Despite this massive number, 30,000...more
Massachusetts federal and state courts issued several important product liability decisions in 2023. Nutter’s Product Liability practice group reviewed these cases and report on their significant holdings as follows ...more
MASSACHUSETTS - First Circuit Holds Failure-To-Warn Claims Against Drug Manufacturer Preempted By Federal Food, Drug, And Cosmetic Act Because Animal Studies Cited By Plaintiffs Did Not Demonstrate Risks Beyond Those In...more
Prop 65 Counsel: What To Know - California Issues Prop 65 Crystalline Silica Safe Use Determination: Four Woodwise products not required to warn for exposure - Chemical Watch - California’s Office of Environmental...more
Massachusetts state and federal courts issued a number of important product liability decisions in 2019. The Product Liability practice group at Nutter recently reviewed these cases. Highlighted below are some of the key...more
On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has in turn remanded the case to the district court to determine whether state law claims are preempted by federal law in the 500+...more
Merck v. Albrecht: Impossibility Preemption Defense as a Question of Law and Guidance on the “Clear Evidence” Standard. A decade ago in Wyeth v. Levine, the Supreme Court held that drug manufacturers, when faced with...more
For some long-awaited events, a little time and distance can add a measure of clarity. Not always – many still are processing the Game of Thrones finale, with no end in sight. But over the past few weeks pharmaceutical...more
The United States Supreme Court finally clarified its 11-year-old “clear evidence” standard for pharmaceutical preemption. In its much-anticipated opinion delivered by Justice Breyer, the Court unanimously reversed the Third...more
The US Supreme Court held on May 20 that a judge, not a jury, must decide the question of whether federal law prohibited drug manufacturers from adding warnings to the drug label that would satisfy state law. To succeed on a...more
Opinion highlights importance of a "clear" record at FDA - On 20 May the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that federal preemption questions arising under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) are for a...more
Following confusion from a 2009 decision, the US Supreme Court on May 20, 2019, decided a significant impossibility preemption case. This new decision will change the dynamics of litigation involving the impossibility...more
The Situation: Name-brand pharmaceutical manufacturers are often sued with claims that they should have strengthened the warnings on their labels, even where (as here) the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") would not allow...more
Last week, in Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, the Supreme Court continued its explication of the balance between state law tort liability that can be imposed on drug makers and the extent to which this liability can be...more
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court found that a judge is better suited than a jury to decide if consumers’ tort claims are preempted by federal regulations. In the case, Merck Sharp & Dome, Corp. v. Albreecht, the...more
On May 20, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its latest opinion on preemption in cases involving prescription medications, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, No. 17-290 (U.S. May 20, 2019). ...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued its potentially most significant preemption decision in several years, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albright, 587 U.S. ____ (2019), reversing what some had dubbed the worst drug and device...more
On May 20, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht, No. 17-290, holding that the judge, not the jury, must decide whether state-law failure-to-warn claims are preempted by...more
A judge, and not the jury, is the better-positioned and appropriate decisionmaker to determine whether a failure-to-warn claim is federally preempted, the U.S. Supreme Court held on Monday, May 20, 2019. The Court also...more
Today, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court made an important ruling concerning innovator liability with respect to pharmaceuticals. Though precluding negligence and traditional product liability claims against brand-name...more
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals recently upheld the Mass Litigation Panel’s grant of summary judgment against a class of Plaintiffs alleging birth defects resulting from the use of prescription medicine in...more
Big Picture: Product Liability in California - California applies its strict product liability laws to all products put into the stream of commerce and sold to the public, and those laws govern a wide array of products. ...more