Content area
Full text
This summer, the Supreme Court will decide on a case that could determine whether generic drug makers can be held liable when patients suffer harmful side effects from taking their drugs.
The case, Mutual Pharmaceutical v. Bartlett, involves Karen Bartlett, who took Mutual's sulindac, a generic version of Merck's Clinoril. After taking the drug, Bartlett developed and suffered near-blindness, esophageal burns and lung damage, as well as the skin disorders Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis. A jury awarded Bartlett $21 million for her injuries, and the Supreme Court heard the case in mid-March.
The issue is, while Bartlett suffered the injuries after...