Supreme Court Debacle

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in Wyeth v. Levine that Wyeth is liable for the incorrectly administered drug injection by a nurse who ignored the drug's FDA-approved warning label.

Diane Levine received the drug via an injection, despite the label saying in all caps: "INADVERTENT INTRA-ARTERIAL INJECTION CAN RESULT IN GANGRENE OF THE EXTREMITY." She then developed gangrene and lost her arm.

The hospital was held liable, but since Wyeth is a deep pocket, the plaintiff went after Wyeth despite the FDA-approved label.

What exactly could Wyeth have done to prevent this? Put one of its employees in every dispensary, further exploding health care costs?

The result will be reduced profitability for the biopharma companies, which means less money will go into R&D - and fewer lives will be saved in the future.

But of course no one will see the life not saved by the drug not developed. So trial lawyers and their political patrons know they will be insulated from the life-and-death results of this outcome.