Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. v. Superior Court

Introduction

Plaintiff suffered injuries, allegedly as a result of ingesting a brand-name drug and its generic equivalents. She sued the manufacturers of both the brand-name drug and its generic equivalents. Although plaintiff asserts 11 separate causes of action, the gist of her claims against all defendants is the same—they failed to produce a safe product, failed to adequately warn plaintiff of the safety issues regarding the products, and failed to take other available steps within their control to warn plaintiff or protect her from injury.

The generic drug manufacturers demurred to plaintiff’s complaint, arguing that, under the United States Supreme Court’s decision in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing (2011) 564 U.S._[ 180 L.Ed.2d 580 , 131 S.Ct. 2567 ] (Mensing), all of plaintiff’s claims were preempted by federal law. The trial court overruled the demurrer. Defendants filed a petition for a writ of mandate and/or prohibition. We issued an order to show cause, and now deny the petition.

In Mensing , the United States Supreme Court held that any claims that a generic drug manufacturer should have included stronger warning labels than those approved for use on the equivalent…