Wyeth v. Levine

Recently, the United States Supreme Court made a seminal ruling in a federal preemption case, that will have a significant impact on an individuals right to bring a ‘failure to warn’ lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company under their states’ laws. 

In Wyeth v. Levine, the United States Supreme Court held that Federal pre-emption does not override state court laws, meaning that individuals will still have the right to bring a ‘failure to warn’ lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company under state court laws. 

Basically, what this means is that if a pharmaceutical company failed to sufficiently warn an individual of the potential harm a drug can cause, the individual will still have the right to bring an action against the company under their particular state law. 

This is an important ruling because, if the ruling had been different, drug manufacturers would have been immune from state court lawsuits alleging their drugs caused harm. A Federal pre-emption Doctrine had been pursued in recent years by the previous administration. 

To learn more about the decision, check out this recent article in the New York Times. 

The law firm of DLG Luce LLP represents individuals and companies in business litigation and personal injury litigation. If you or your company have a legal matter that the attorneys of DLG Luce may be able to assist you with, contact us today to schedule a consultation at our San Antonio or Austin, Texas based law office.