Quoted from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-10/generic-drug-makers-to-get-u-s-supreme-court-hearing-on-patient-lawsuits.html
Generic-Drug Makers Get Hearing at U.S. High Court
By Greg Stohr - Dec 10, 2010 6:11 PM ET
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether generic-drug makers can be sued for not warning patients about the risk of dangerous side effects, agreeing to hear arguments from units of Mylan Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
The justices today said they will review lawsuits by two women who say they contracted a severe neurological disorder as a result of long-term use of metoclopramide, a drug used to treat stomach conditions. The women say the drug carried inadequate safety warnings.
One patient, Gladys Mensing, is suing units of Mylan and Teva and privately held Actavis Group hf, while the second, Julie Demahy, is suing an Actavis unit. A federal appeals court let both suits go forward, pointing to a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that permitted failure-to-warn suits against brand-name drugmakers.
The companies argue that the 2009 ruling shouldn’t apply to them because federal law requires generic drugs to include the same packaging insert as the one used by the brand-name drug company that produces the medicine. Lower courts across the country have rejected that contention, so a Supreme Court ruling in the companies’ favor would mark a change in the law.
