Birmingham Injury Blog

Michael E. Grossman's Personal Injury Blog, has posted an article about a Vermont woman's lawsuit over side effects from a drug.

In 2000, she received a shot of the migraine medicine Phenergan and contracted gangrene shortly thereafter. The medicine's FDA warning label didn't list gangrene being a possible side effect.

The woman's attorney filed a suit against Wyeth, makers of the medicine, stating that "the company was responsible for meeting The State of Vermont's own drug warning label laws." She was awarded $6.7 million from a jury.

Wyeth's attorneys appealed the decision taking it to the Supreme Court. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict sending a strong message regarding the power of state liability laws. Prior to this significant outcome, many held to the belief that state liability laws were overridden by the FDA's standards. If a drug's warning label met the federal requirements, an opposing or differing law at the state level was thought to be less relevant. The outcome will likely prompt many pending drug injury cases to move forward where a potential roadblock once kept such cases at a stand still.