On behalf of The Senior Citizens League (“TSCL”), we filed an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court in Wyeth v. Levine (Supreme Court Docket No. 06-1249) on behalf of the respondent, Diana Levine. The issue in this case is whether approval of a drug and its labeling by the Food and Drug Administration preempts state tort liability when the label as approved does not adequately warn of the dangers of certain forms of administration of a drug.
TSCL’s brief brought to the Court’s attention the unique arguments that federal preemption of this area would deprive Ms. Levine of a right to a remedy by “due course of law” as secured by the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 1, Section 4 of the Vermont Constitution. Furthermore, the brief argued that state tort law systems provide necessary protection to consumers, as well as assisting the FDA in accomplishing its mission, and that the FDA’s scientific expertise is insufficient to protect the public health.