Springfield Missouri Injury Attorneys – Update on Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decision

As Springfield Missouri pharmaceutical attorneys, we spend much of our time analyzing and reviewing dangerous drugs and their effect on Missouri consumers.  The United States Supreme Court recently decided in a 5-4 ruling that generic drugs are immune from most unreasonably dangerous product liability lawsuits.  Mutual Pharmacuetical Company v Bartlett, 2013. This Bartlett decision further limits the rights of consumers to bring product liability lawsuits against generic drug manufacturers.

This decision follows a series of rulings by the current Supreme Court in which justices ruled in favor of companies that were facing civil lawsuits.

In this case, the plaintiff took the generic version of the drug Sulindac for shoulder pain, suffered severe burns over much of her body and is nearly blind. She spent months in a medically induced coma and was tube fed for a year, and has had dozens of eye surgeries, allegedly as a result of the drug.

With this decision and a previous 2011 Supreme Court decision that shielded generic drug makers from lawsuits alleging that they did not adequately label their products, plaintiffs will have a difficult time bringing a claim against generic drug manufacturers no matter how severe the injury.  The Supreme Court noted that they were interpreting current Congressional statutes, and that if a harsh result occurred, it is due to the plain language of the statute.   

It appears that the issue is now back in front of the Food and Drug Administration to change the current regulations, and for Congress to review the underlying law.  Because of the basis for the decision, patients who took branded drugs are allowed to bring both failure to warn, and unreasonably dangerous product liability lawsuits.  But, patients who took the identically labeled and manufactured generic version of the drug, are very likely are unable to bring a claim for personal injury or products liability under current law.   

If you have been injured by any drug or medical device, you can call the personal injury lawyers at Preston Law for a free consultation.  We are currently evaluating cases involving Yaz, Mirena, Pradaxa, Lipitor, anti-depressants such as Paxil, Prozac or Zoloft, Actos, vaginal mesh and bladder slings, and defective metal on metal hip implants.  We are Springfield Missouri personal injury attorneys.