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Supreme Court deadlocks on Pfizer case

Pharma Compliance Alert, March 5, 2008

Pfizer and its Warner-Lambert division won't get any help from the Supreme Court when it comes to defending itself against 27 lawsuits filed in Michigan over its now-withdrawn Rezulin diabetes treatment, according to Bloomberg.com.

The Court split 4-4 with one justice abstaining in a case about patient lawsuits over federally approved drugs and devices. The ruling sets no national precedent and allows a lower court ruling in favor of the plaintiffs to stand. Twenty-seven people are suing Pfizer, claiming they suffered serious injury as a result of taking Rezulin.

The unique Michigan law at the center of the case generally bars suits against FDA-approved drugs but an exemption in the law does allow injured patients to sue if they allege a drug company committed fraud during the FDA drug-review process.

Pharmaceutical companies will have another day to argue for federal preemption of state lawsuits before the Court in the fall when the justices will hear Wyeth's challenge to a judgment awarded to a Vermont woman over an anti-nausea drug. If Wyeth is successful, the court may bar any suit that questions the adequacy of an FDA-approved packaging insert to ensure drug safety.

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