Section 6-5-530, Ala. Code 1975; Abrogation of Wyeth, Inc. v. Weeks, 159 So. 3d 649 (Ala. 2014)
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By
Cunningham Bounds LLC
Forest Laboratories, LLC v. Feheley, [Ms. 1180387, Oct. 25, 2019] __ So. 3d __ (Ala. 2019). The Court (Wise,
J.; and Parker, C.J., and Bolin, Bryan, Sellers, and Mitchell, JJ., concur;
Mendheim and Stewart, JJ., concur in the result) accepts an Ala. R. App.
P. 5 permissive appeal from the Calhoun Circuit Court seeking review of
an order denying a prescription drug manufacturer's motion for summary
judgment wherein it contended that the Alabama Legislature's promulgation
of § 6-5-530, Ala. Code 1975, abrogated the Supreme Court's prior
decision in
Wyeth, Inc. v. Weeks, 159 So. 3d 649 (Ala. 2014), such that the prescription drug manufacturer
could not be liable for the murder/suicide alleged in plaintiff's
complaint when it was undisputed that the version of the antidepressant
medication taken was manufactured by a generic drug manufacturer. Reviewing
the history of the Legislature's promulgation in 2015 of Act 2015-106,
which later became codified as § 6-5-530, in the context of the Supreme
Court's decision on rehearing in
Wyeth v. Weeks, the Court holds that the Legislature in promulgating § 6-5-530 intended
to abrogate the holding of
Wyeth v. Weeks, such that the manufacturer of a brand-named drug cannot now be held liable
for fraud or misrepresentation based on statements made in connection
with the manufacture of the brand-named prescription drug when the plaintiff's
claim is based on a physical injury caused by a generic version of that
drug manufactured by a different company.
