In devastatingly good news for consumers of US health "care", The US Supreme Court ruled this morning against the drug maker Wyeth, holding that pharmaceutical companies can be held liable for damages from drugs which carry FDA warning labels. Big Pharma is not immune from civil suit on some trumped up notion that FDA labels pre-empt any legal claims from persons harmed by said drugs.
It began in liberal Vermont:
A Vermont jury awarded $7 million in damages to a guitarist, Diana Levine. Part of her arm had to be amputated after she was improperly injected with the anti-nausea drug Phenergan made by Wyeth as part of treatment for a migraine.
The justices affirmed a Vermont Supreme Court ruling that upheld the award and rejected Wyeth's argument that labeling approvals by the FDA pre-empts state law liability claims.
The sociopathic Bush government had sided with the drug cos. Pre-emption has been a goal of the pharmaceutical industry for decades and had been supported by Bush types and the lobbyists worried about civil suits. I hesitate to ask where Obama would have sided on this issue. BTW, this is also a defeat for drug co. lobbyist Joe Lieberman.
UPDATE: Major thanks to Kos community for the recs.