Krelic v. Mutual Pharmaceuticals Co.

31 Pa. D. & C.5th 449
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
DecidedMay 1, 2013
StatusPublished

This text of 31 Pa. D. & C.5th 449 (Krelic v. Mutual Pharmaceuticals Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Krelic v. Mutual Pharmaceuticals Co., 31 Pa. D. & C.5th 449 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2013).

Opinion

WETTICK, J.,

— Defendant’s motion for summary judgment seeking dismissal of plaintiff’s first amended complaint is the subject of this opinion and order of court.

Plaintiffs have instituted state tort failure-to-wam claims against a generic drug manufacturer. This manufacturer uses the warning label used by the manufacturer of the brand-name drug. For purposes of defendant’s motion for summary judgment, i will assume that under state tort law the warnings are inadequate.

I.

[451]*451Defendant seeks dismissal of the failure-to-wam claims on the ground that these failure-to-wam claims are preempted by federal law. Defendant bases its preemption defense on a June 23, 2011 ruling by the United States Supreme Court in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, 131 S. Ct. 2567 (2011).

In PLIVA, the generic manufactures raised the following preemption defense: federal law requires a generic manufacturer to use the label of the brand-name manufacturer. Plaintiffs; state law claim is based on the failure of the generic manufacturer change its label to include a warning about the risks of developing CSR. A potential side effect. This requirement, imposed by state tort law, that the generic manufacturer change its label, requires the manufacturer to do what it is prohibited from doing under federal law, namely to use safety and efficacy labeling that differs from that used by the brand-name manufacturer. Where it is impossible for the generic manufacturer to comply with state tort law duties without violating a federal law, settled law establishes that state law must give way.

The United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 split, found merit to the above argument of the generic manufacturer’s strengthening its warning label would violate federal statutes and regulations requiring a generic manufacturer’s drug label to match the label of the brand-name manufacturer.

The court’s opinion began with what was not in dispute. A manufacturer seeking federal approval to market a new drug must prove that the new drug is safe and effective [452]*452and that the proposed label is accurate and adequate. However, a generic drug can gain FDA approval simply by showing equivalence to a listed drug that has already been approved by the FDA and by showing the safety and efficacy labeling which this generic manufacturer proposes is the same as the labeling approved for the brand-name drug:

A generic drug application must also “show that the [safety and efficacy] labeling proposed ... is the same as the labeling approved for the [brand-name] drug.” [21 U.S.C.] § 3559jO(2)(A)(v); see also § 355(j)(4)(G); Beers §§ 30.01, 3.03[A].

PLIVA, 131 S. Ct. at 2574.

The court stated that what is in dispute is whether, and to what extent, generic manufactures may change their labels after initial FDA approval of the generic drug.

Prior to PLIVA, in Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555 (2009), the United States Supreme Court had addressed the issue of whether a state law failure-to-warn tort claim may be brought against a brand-name manufacturer for failure to have modified the warming label placed on the drug once it had been approved by the FDA.

The brand-name manufacturer made the same preemption argument that was made in PLIVA: under federal law, the manufacturer must use the warning labels approved by the FDA. Thus, the manufacturer would violate federal law if, without FDA approval, it included stronger warnings in order to comply with state tort law. Id. at 563.

[453]*453The court ruled against the brand-name manufacturer. If found that it was not impossible for Wyeth to comply with state and federal law obligations because of an FDA regulation which permits a brand-name manufacturer to make certain changes to its label before receiving FDA approval. The court stated:

Among other things, this “changes being effected” (CBE) regulation provides that if a manufacturer is changing a label to “add or strengthen a contraindication, warning, precaution, or adverse reaction” or to “add or strengthen an instruction about dosage and administration that is intended to increase the safe use of the drug product,” it may make the labeling change upon filing its supplemental application with the FDA; it need not wait for FDA approval. §§ 314.70(c)(6)(iii) (A), (C).

Id. at 568.

In PLIVA, the court reached the opposite result. It did so because the legislation and regulations, as interpreted by the FDA, allow changes to generic labels only when a generic drug manufacturer changes its labels to match an updated brand-name label or to follow the FDA’s instructions. Under FDA interpretations, changes unilaterally made to strengthen a generic drug’s warning label would violate federal legislation and regulations requiring and generic drug’s label to match its brand-name counterparts. 131 S. Ct. at 2575.

Defendant contends that the question of whether state failure-to-wam tort claims may be brought against a [454]*454generic manufacturer using the same safety and efficacy labeling used by the brand-name manufacturer has been resolved through the PLIVA opinion, which holds that state tort claims may not be brought because of the FDA requirement that the labeling be the same. Thus I should dismiss plaintiffs’ failure-to-warn tort claims.

Plaintiffs raise the following argument in support of their position that PLIVA does not bar a generic manufacturer, which is a different entity than the brand-name manufacturer, from including risks that are not disclosed in the brand-name label: PLIVA considered only the provision within 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(2)(A)(v) (quoted at page 2 of this opinion) requiring the generic manufacturer to use the labels of the brand-name manufacturer. [Plaintiffs are correct.] However, this legislation includes the Different Manufactures Exception. [Plaintiffs are correct.]

This Exception reads as follows:

An abbreviated application for a new drug shall contain...information to show that the labeling proposed for the new drug is the same as the labeling approved for the listed drug referred to in clause (i) except for changes required because of differences approved under a petition filed under subparagraph (C) or because the new drug and the listed drug are produced or distributed by different manufacturers.

21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(2)(A)(v) (emphasis added).

In PLIVA, neither the opinion of the court nor the dissenting opinion mentioned the Different Manufacturers [455]*455Exception. [Plaintiffs are correct.]

This means, according to plaintiffs, that the Different Manufacturers Exception permits a generic manufacturer to comply with sate tort law governing a failure to warm by strengthening its safety and efficacy labeling.

It is this final step where plaintiffs encounter a problem.

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Related

Wyeth v. Levine
555 U.S. 555 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Zeneca, Inc. v. Shalala
213 F.3d 161 (Fourth Circuit, 2000)
PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing
180 L. Ed. 2d 580 (Supreme Court, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
31 Pa. D. & C.5th 449, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/krelic-v-mutual-pharmaceuticals-co-pactcompl-2013.