The Supreme Court’s Ruling Doesn’t Stop Reglan Lawsuits from Moving Forward
Last month’s controversial Supreme Court ruling might have given generic drug makers a “get out of warning label settlements free” card; however, it hasn’t stopped current Reglan lawsuits from pushing on.
All over the United States, Reglan lawsuits in both state and federal courts which claim that the brand name version of Reglan doesn’t properly warn the public of the risks associated with the drug still await trial. The Supreme Court’s ruling did not stop litigation from happening; it merely forced plaintiffs to take their claims to the brand name drug makers instead and in federal court.
Reglan has long been associated with tardive dyskinesia (TD), a condition that is characterized by Parkinson’s-like symptoms. Generic versions of the drug also have been proven to cause TD. Many can’t help wondering what happens to all of the plaintiffs that developed the condition due to the generic version. Can they now sue brand-name drug maker Wyeth instead?
Recent studies have shown that patients who take Reglan for a period of longer than 12 weeks are more likely to develop TD. However, that information was not readily available when many people started taking the acid reflux drug. It is clear that someone should be held responsible for that, and right now, generic drug companies are not. The theory behind this decision is likely because the justices figured that generic drug companies didn’t have to post any warnings on their labels other than what the brand name drug companies wrote on theirs. The Supreme Court just upheld the federal court's rule that doesn’t allow generic drug makers to post different warning labels from their brand name counterparts.
For now, however, a different judicial panel recently decided to reject a motion to have all Reglan lawsuits that are filed in federal court to be consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL). That said, all of the lawsuits that are filed in state courts have been centralized to the New Jersey Superior Court. The fight pushes on, and brand name drug makers will be the defendants.
