Lilly Loses Appeal to Limit Damages in Canadian Suit

From Bloomberg:
Eli Lilly & Co. lost an appeal to limit potential damages in a lawsuit filed by Canadian patients who claimed they developed diabetes after using its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug.

An Ontario appeal court today affirmed a lower court's decision that plaintiffs in a class-action, or group, suit may try to recover money the Indianapolis-based company made from sales rather than get damages. The plaintiffs sought C$900 million in damages in their initial claim.

Lilly, the world's biggest maker of psychiatric medicines, is accused of failing to warn the Zyprexa schizophrenia treatment may cause diabetes. Opting to go after a company's sales is unprecedented in court, said Toronto class-action lawyer Paul Bates, who isn't involved in the Zyprexa suit. ...more

B.C. court clears path for cancer survivors to sue over hormone replacement

From the Canadian Press:
An international maker of a hormone replacement drug has lost its bid to block a B.C. lawsuit, clearing the way for a possible class-action suit on behalf of breast cancer survivors.

Hundreds of B.C. women who claim they got breast cancer after taking the drugs Premarin and Premplus have contacted the law firm involvined in the B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit.

David Klein, the lawyer for the women, said it means if the company is found at fault, the international firm would be held accountable in a Canadian court.

"Now we can put the case back on track toward getting it certified as a class action," he said.

Officially, the lawsuit has one plaintiff so far. Dianna Stanway is the representative plaintiff in the court action that first must be certified by the court as a class action, allowing the other women to join. ...more

Druggist takes on province

From the Toronto Star:
Toronto pharmacist Chaim Wrightman took his fight with the Ontario health ministry to Superior Court yesterday, in a case with potential impact on how the elderly receive medication.

The battle started over pill packs, those cases with individual compartments for medication prescribed by a doctor and divided by the pharmacist into daily and weekly doses. In Ontario, most users of the packs are covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program.

While the battle started over pill packs, it has now escalated into a fight over the pharmacist's right to bill under the massive drug benefit plan that costs Ontario $3 billion a year.

Wrightman had wanted to keep dispensing the packs and being paid for it. The Ontario government first tried to stop him in 2007 by ordering him to reimburse $250,000 in dispensing fees on pill packs over seven years. ...more

Drug Makers Near Old Goal: A Legal Shield

From the New York Times:
For years, Johnson & Johnson obscured evidence that its popular Ortho Evra birth control patch delivered much more estrogen than standard birth control pills, potentially increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes, according to internal company documents.

But because the Food and Drug Administration approved the patch, the company is arguing in court that it cannot be sued by women who claim that they were injured by the product — even though its old label inaccurately described the amount of estrogen it released.

This legal argument is called pre-emption. After decades of being dismissed by courts, the tactic now appears to be on the verge of success, lawyers for plaintiffs and drug companies say.

The Bush administration has argued strongly in favor of the doctrine, which holds that the F.D.A. is the only agency with enough expertise to regulate drug makers and that its decisions should not be second-guessed by courts. The Supreme Court is to rule on a case next term that could make pre-emption a legal standard for drug cases. The court already ruled in February that many suits against the makers of medical devices like pacemakers are pre-empted. ...more

Canadian drug-benefits provider sues WISH-TV

From the Indianapolis Star:
Canadian pharmacy benefit manager CanaRx Services, which is trying to expand its business in Indiana, sued the parent company of WISH-TV (Channel 8) on Monday, alleging defamation over a broadcast linking CanaRx to sales of counterfeit drugs.

The Windsor-based company sent its president, chief pharmacist and two attorneys to Indianapolis to announce the lawsuit and demand a retraction of statements made in the Nov. 2 broadcast.

The eight-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, charges that reports in the broadcast were "false, defamatory and constituted commercial disparagement of CanaRx and its business." ...more

Merck agrees to US$4.85B settlement over Vioxx

From CTV News:
Merck & Co. has offered to pay US$4.85 billion to end litigation with thousands of U.S. plaintiffs over its painkiller Vioxx.

The agreement applies only to U.S. legal residents and those who allege that a heart attack or stroke they experienced while taking Vioxx occurred in the United States.

In Canada, negotiations continue in a number of class-action cases against the makers of Vioxx.

Mike Peerless, of Siskinds LLP, a law firm that represents hundreds of Canadian plaintiffs in Vioxx class actions, tells CTV that the settlement in the U.S. is a good sign and suggests that the company will want to quickly settle its Vioxx cases in Canada. ...more

Class-action suits launched against makers of diabetes drug

From the Toronto Star:
A lawyer is attempting to launch class action lawsuits in two provinces against the makers of Avandia, a popular Type 2 diabetes drug.

Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group filed statements of claim in Saskatchewan and Ontario on Monday, alleging GlaxoSmithKline should have done more to warn consumers of the drug's risks.

Merchant says statements of claim will be filed in other provinces later this week.

"(The plaintiffs) have suffered heart attacks or suffered loss of their vision, and in some cases they have died," Merchant alleged in an interview late Monday. ...more