There is no doubt that tainted Heparin victims, Trasylol victims and lawyers alike are concerned with the upcoming decision on Wyeth v. Levine, which is scheduled for a ruling by the Supreme Court this fall.
The issue in this case is whether drug companies should be immune from product liability suits concerning dangerous or defective products if they had prior approval from the FDA. Specifically, the appeal filed in Wyeth v. Levine seeks to overturn a $6.8 million judgment awarded to a Vermont woman that lost part of her arm after doctors injected her with a nausea drug. The lawyers for the drug manufacturer claim that the company is not liable for her injuries because the drug met all necessary FDA requirements and ultimately received FDA approval.
One can only hope that the Supreme Court will see this argument for what it is-just another attempt by a billion dollar drug company to avoid responsibility for a defective product. I heard someone recently put it this way, “So because I passed my driver’s test and the State gave me a license, you can’t sue me if I carelessly wreck your car.” I think that analogy shows just how ridiculous this argument is. Even if you break it down to the issue of “fairness”– no person in their right mind can justify how a woman who is permanently disabled because the FDA and a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company released a dangerous product on the market should be faced with economic hardship because her disability check barely pays the bills. Where is the justice in that?
Furthermore, lets consider the people who’s loved ones were killed after receiving a lethal injection of contaminated Heparin. Consider the anxious mothers who became seriously ill after they were placed on a Heparin regiment during pregnancy and are now scared to death of the effects it may have had on their unborn child. How about the patients that sailed through heart surgery, only to die in the recovery room after a lethal dose of Trasylol?
Clearly, a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the drug companies will be nothing more than a license to push questionable drugs through the understaffed FDA and make billions of dollars at the expense of the American people. This is not justice and we can only hope that the Court rules in favor of the little guy in this situation.
Free Legal Advice: Medical Malpractice