News tagged with 'Preemption'

Diana Levine herself speaks about the specifics of her case in a video filmed by the Alliance for Justice on the Injuryboard Web site. Alliance for Justice and Wyeth all weigh in today too following the U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Wyeth v. Levine. 

In a victory for consumer rights, the U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that consumers do have the right to sue a pharmaceutical company when it does not make a drug warning label clear enough to prevent injury.  The decision is a defeat for drugmaker, Wyeth and a victory for musician Diana Levine, who had won $7 million in a lower court ruling that Wyeth was challenging.

Pfizer will acquire Wyeth in a cash and stock deal of $68 billion that makes the world's largest drug company even larger.

Joan Petty took Vioxx for five years, twice a day.  After three heart attacks and two strokes she has enough energy to charge Merck & Co and its executives with criminal charges over Vioxx and has her day before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.

Joan Petty is going after pharmaceutical giant, Merck with a vengeance. The 73-year-old Ft. Pierce, Florida woman says Merck is criminal for manufacturing the medication Vioxx, and she's filed a RICO lawsuit. The U.S. Supreme Court has Petty's latest brief on the docket for Friday the 16th. 

Bloomberg News surveyed punitive verdicts and finds the billion dollar awards seem to be a thing of the past.  Judge discretion, unsympathetic jurors, changes in federal law and tort reform all seem to be having their impact on punitive awards, which are supposed to damage the wrong-doer. 

A federal judge, dismissed several lawsuits on behalf of thousands of patients with Medtronic heart-defibrillator wires citing a February decision that federal law “preempts” product-liability lawsuits under state law, effectively precluding such cases.

Access Denied?: The Fight for Corporate Accountability - a new documentary about the real human faces of federal pre-emption, and how it takes a toll on those already sick and injured. Alliance for Justice is premiering the film to the nation, Tuesday, November 18th and providing viewers with an opportunity to have an on-line chat with the woman's who is the face of federal pre-emption, Diana Levine. 

With the help of internal FDA emails, citizens can read how pre-emption language was inserted into FDA rules to benefit big business, despite objections, while headed by an industry lawyer who took the revolving door back into industry.  Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide on a case shaped by pre-emption, the outcome of which potentially affects the health and safety of all citizens for years to come.  

Key FDA career officials strongly objected to Bush Administration drug labeling regulations that would preempt state liability lawsuits, according to a new report by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

In the last days of the Bush administration, school bus safety rules also contain protections for the manufacturing industry. What parents should know about federal pre-emption and keeping their kids safe. 

Should corporations be given complete immunity from liability for dangerous and defective products? 

As the Bush administration winds down, there is a last minute push toward adding pre-emptive language to agencies that oversee everyday products, which essentially block consumer product liability lawsuits.  

Upon returning for a new term on Monday, the Supreme Court justices weighed a complicated legal battle, whether state laws can be used to challenge deceptive advertising of “light” cigarettes. Altria Group v. Good is the latest case in a growing debate over preemption.

Consumers are increasingly wary about what FDA approval means in light of food and product recalls, unsafe drugs and novel new foods that go virtually unregulated. Yet "FDA approved" is increasingly carrying the weight of the law of the land, stripping you of your right to go to court.