Over on the Drug & Device Law Blog, the bloggers have put together a survey of how each U.S. state (plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico) has addressed the concept of the heeding presumption, which posits that if the manufacturer of a product had given an alternative "adequate" warning of the potential effects of using the product, then the consumer or learned intermediary of such product would have obeyed the warning. As the survey demonstrates, the states' reaction to this legal theory ranges from full recognition to limited recognition to full rejection.… Continue Reading
FDA's Office of Prescription Drug Promotion has warned a Swiss drug company about failing to include risk information and omitting material facts regarding its products. What makes these particular violations noteworthy is that they occurred on the company's Facebook page. FDA became aware of the company's Facebook promotion through its own monitoring and surveillance program.… Continue Reading
In an article entitled, "The Legal Duties Of Clinical Trial Sponsors," published by Law360.com on July 11, 2011, Reed Smith attorney Kevin Lohman addresses the risks involved in human clinical trials and the responsibilities between the clinical study investigator and the manufacturer/sponsor.… Continue Reading
This post was written by Christopher C. Foster. As many of you no doubt have heard, the United States Supreme Court last week decided that FDA regulations applicable to generic drug manufacturers preempt state law “failure to warn” claims in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, Nos. 09–993, 09–1039, and 09–1501, 564 U.S. ___ (2011). Among other … Continue Reading
One of the strongest defenses against product liability claims, including a failure to warn claim, is federal preemption. For cases against prescription drug manufacturers, defense lawyers have specifically asserted conflict preemption to argue that failure to warn claims are preempted by the FDA’s regulations governing the content of labels for prescription drugs. Essentially, defense lawyers … Continue Reading
This post was also written by James M. Neudecker. In April 2008, in Johnson v. American Standard, Inc., 2008 WL 878933 (Cal. Apr. 3, 2008), the California Supreme Court unanimously held that a manufacturer is not liable to a sophisticated user of its product for failing to warn of dangers about which the sophisticated user knew … Continue Reading