The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, in Mensing v. Wyeth, Inc., has just ruled that generic drug manufacturers cannot use the doctrine of federal preemption as a shield to avoid liability in claims arising out of the manufacturers’ failure to warn consumers about their drugs’ dangers.
This decision follows on the heels of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Wyeth, Inc. v. Levine that the FDA’s approval of a drug’s label does not provide immunity from suit by federal preemption when name-brand drugs cause injury. The Eighth Circuit’s decision in Mensing was the first federal appellate decision since Levine to rule that federal preemption does not immunize generic drug manufacturers from liability.
Please see our earlier discussions about the importance of defeating this preemption doctrine.
3/4/09, 12/15/08, 10/20/08, 9/11/08, 8/15/08, and 7/17/08.
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