Beshear joins bipartisan coalition to protect states’ ability to sue pharmaceutical companies over potential drug side effects
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky Attorney General, Andy Beshear, has joined with a bipartisan group of attorneys general in asking the nation’s highest court to uphold the ability of states, to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable when they mislead the public on the potential side effects of their drugs.
Beshear has signed on to an amicus or “friend of the court” brief filed in the United States Supreme Court case involving Merck.
The attorneys general argue that the pharmaceutical company can be held liable under state law for misleading and misrepresenting the side effects of its osteoporosis preventive drug, Fosamax, even if the company is not liable under federal law.
Hundreds of Fosamax users, who suffered from a specific type of bone fracture, filed personal injury lawsuits against Merck, alleging the company did not warn them about the risk of these specific fractures.
In the case, Merck claims that because the FDA did not approve a warning label for a different type of fracture, it is not liable under state law.
Beshear said he is hopeful the justices will reaffirm the vital role states play in protecting citizens from disingenuous pharmaceutical companies.
