“To be clear, while an association between acetaminophen and autism has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established . . . .” That is not your DDL bloggers speaking (although we did add the emphasis). It is not a drug manufacturer speaking, nor any particular doctor or researcher speaking. It
Contributory Negligence, Warnings Causation, Or Both
Legal problems are often multi-faceted. Turned one way, the problem looks like one issue. Turn it around, and a different issue glimmers in your eye.
For example, in Saulsby v. Amphastar Pharm., Inc., __ S.E.2d ___, 2025 N.C. App. LEXIS 420, 2025 WL 1812450 (N.C. App. July 2, 2025), the North Carolina Court of…
Litigation Cannot Drive Science
Science and law share a common goal—getting at the truth; but their relationship can be shaky. In areas like medicine and products liability, courts need to rely on science, but courts should not make science or get ahead of science. Science is a methodical process that relies on testing, peer review, and replication. When science…
Shrinking A Safe Harbor To Fit A Consumer Protection Class
In Hall v. Walgreens Boot Alliance, Inc., the Supreme Court of Washington considered a certified question from the Northern District of Illinois on an issue of Washington state law. No. 102829-6, 2025 Wash. LEXIS 145 (Wash. Mar. 20, 2025). The underlying case, a proposed consumer protection class action, involves the labeling of certain over-the-counter…
Another Preemption Win Involving An Economic Loss Class Action And An OTC Drug
As regular blog readers know, we love a clean grant of a motion to dismiss on preemption grounds. They are relatively common, so it sometimes puzzles us that the plaintiffs’ bar keeps filing plainly preempted claims.
Perhaps some of these plainly preempted lawsuits get filed because the express preemption provision of the FDCA related to…
Tale Of An Economic Loss Class Action
Lately we have been thinking that perhaps nothing stirs a plaintiffs’ lawyer more than a product liability mass tort except an economic loss class action.
Why? Money, for one. Control, for another.
We regularly complain that plaintiffs’ lawyers save money by doing little-to-nothing to investigate their clients’ personal injury claims in product liability MDLs. …
Guest Post – Another Potentially Bubbly Battle Over Hydrogen Peroxide Fizzles Out
Today’s guest post is by Amy McVeigh and Jessica Farmer, who are partners at Holland & Knight. They comment on the demise of another purported class action against a manufacturer of hydrogen peroxide, which is an FDA-regulated over-the-counter (“OTC”) drug. As always our guest posters deserve 100% of the credit (and any blame)…
Preemption and OTC Drugs
It is fair to say that Bexis co-founded this blog (in 2006!) in part to aid the cause of medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers, targets in our lawsuit-obsessed country. Over the years, this blog has come to serve as an important resource for our drug and defense bar colleagues, and Bexis regularly identifies—if not…
No Boo Boos in OTC Preemption Case
Like having a first child, when you assume new responsibilities in caring for elderly parents, you get a crash-course education in topics you otherwise never would have thought about. Have your first child, and you likely will develop a new-found interest—if not firmly-held opinions—on concepts like sleep training and breast feeding. Take on a role…
A Forum-Shopping Plaintiff Can Be Transferred Out Of Her Home District
After recent posts on the AHM (or Hippo) litigation, we read the excellent FDA reply brief and considered yet another post on the subject. With the oral argument before the Fifth Circuit yesterday and more briefs and decisions to come, we elected to deal with a topic that was not quite so weighty. In…