Supreme Court Ruling in Drug Case Could Have Big Implications for Product Liability
A Supreme Court decision could make it harder for large groups of plaintiffs to sue corporations in state courts for damages caused by manufacturers’ products, reports Politico.
The court sided with Bristol-Myers Squibb to limit where patients can seek compensation for harm caused by drugs.
“But the ruling will echo beyond the pharmaceutical industry to potentially affect any liability case in which consumers allege harm caused by a deficient product, including automobiles, tobacco, food and other mass litigation like consumer claims of financial fraud by a company,” writes Sarah Karlin-Smith. “It could also affect lawsuits against companies being accused of environmental wrongdoing.”
Karlin-Smith quotes a blog post by James Beck, who works with pharmaceutical and product liability law at Reed Smith: “This is one of the most important mass tort/product liability decisions.”
“It will extremely limit the notion that large companies can be sued by anyone, anywhere,” he explained.