Generic Fosamax Injury Lawsuit to Proceed

Los Angeles, CATeva Pharmaceuticals has been denied a hearing of its appeal against a lawsuit that claims the company failed to warn of the health risks linked to generic versions of the osteoporosis drug Fosamax. The appeal stems from a lawsuit brought by Olga Pikerie, who claims her fractured thighbone resulted from her prolonged use of generic Fosamax. Pikerie alleged that Teva and other generic makers hadn't brought their warnings in line with an update of the branded Fosamax's label.

Teva and its co-defendants appealed Pikerie's claims citing an earlier ruling in which the Supreme Court's 2011 decision in Pliva v. Mensing stated that federal labeling requirements pre-empt state-law failure-to-warn claims. The Supreme Court ruling effectively protects generic drug makers from lawsuits as long as the warnings on their product labels meet the requirements for the branded versions of the same products.

However, a California trial court sided with Pikerie, and a state appeals court affirmed that decision in June 2013, stating that Pikerie wasn't suing the generic drug companies for failing to provide stronger warnings than those for brand-name Fosamax, but rather for failing to update their safety warnings after Fosamax's label had changed. So now her lawsuit will proceed.