If the California Supreme Court gets this wrong, the consequences won’t be limited to one company or one class of drugs. It will send a chilling signal across the entire life sciences industry, much of which is based in California.
On Wednesday, May 6, the California Supreme Court will hear a case that could upend the economics of medical innovation.
Roughly 24,000 plaintiffs are suing pharmaceutical company Gilead over one of its HIV drugs. They do not claim that the drug failed to work, nor that it was defectively manufactured, nor that they were insufficiently warned of its side effects.
Their argument is far more radical. They claim Gilead should be punished because it didn’t develop a better version quickly enough.
If that theory prevails, it will create a new legal standard — one that’s not just misguided but dangerous.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
A lawsuit that may kill tomorrow’s cures
Sally C. Pipes
If the California Supreme Court gets this wrong, the consequences won’t be limited to one company or one class of drugs. It will send a chilling signal across the entire life sciences industry, much of which is based in California.
On Wednesday, May 6, the California Supreme Court will hear a case that could upend the economics of medical innovation.
Roughly 24,000 plaintiffs are suing pharmaceutical company Gilead over one of its HIV drugs. They do not claim that the drug failed to work, nor that it was defectively manufactured, nor that they were insufficiently warned of its side effects.
Their argument is far more radical. They claim Gilead should be punished because it didn’t develop a better version quickly enough.
If that theory prevails, it will create a new legal standard — one that’s not just misguided but dangerous.
Read the op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.