Legal News

Brand name or generic, drug makers are liable

By Richard Binder

In a shocking decision that made ripples on Friday, San Francisco's First District Court of Appeal ruled that drug manufacturers can be held liable for harm caused by both their own name-brand products and competing companies' generic versions. 

The case involved New Jersey-based Wyeth Inc., which was sued in San Francisco by a woman named Elizabeth Conte. She claimed she developed a serious and irreversible neurological condition after long-term use of generic versions of Wyeth's Reglan, also known as metoclopramide, to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Conte ? who sued for fraud and negligent misrepresentation ? argued that Wyeth should have had the duty to warn doctors that Reglan and its generic versions shouldn't be used for more than 12 weeks at a time. Conte took the drug for nearly four years.

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Robert Dondero granted summary judgment for Wyeth. But the appeal court reversed, calling the issue one of first impression.

Read the full Recorder article. (Note: subscription required.) See also analysis here.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on November 10, 2008 (boomark / email).