Brand-name Drug Makers’ Warnings may Apply to Generics

A state appeals court has decided that prescription drug manufacturers are bound to provide product warnings that exercise “due care,” even if a generic equivalent is used to fill a prescription to which a patient has a negative reaction. ” A name-brand prescription drug manufacturer in disseminating product warnings owes a duty of care to patients who take a generic version of the drug pursuant to a prescription written in reliance on the name-brand maker’s information,” the court said. The decision came in reference to a case in which a plaintiff is suing a major drug manufacturer after developing a serious neurological problem allegedly as a result of taking a generic version of the brand-name drug. “A defendant who authors and disseminates information about a product manufactured and sold by another may be liable for negligent misrepresentation where the defendant should reasonably expect others to rely on that information and the product causes injury, even though the defendant would not be liable in strict products liability because it did not manufacture or sell the product,” the court said. The court found doctors can reasonably be expected to rely on information supplied to publishers of the Physicians’ Desk Reference by drug makers, even when it is likely patients will have the option of choosing a less expensive generic.