Woman Loses Bid To Sue Hospira Over Ongoing Drug Shortage

Last year, a woman named Jennifer Lacognata filed a lawsuit in which she charged that Hospira breached its responsibility to provide patients with a needed medicine that was in short supply. Her argument highlighted a dilemma resulting from a large and persistent number of shortages over the past two years of numerous medications needed for treating various ailments (see the list). Due to Hospira manufacturing problems, Lacognata was unable to obtain an injectable drug called Aquasol A to treat her vitamin A deficiency. The purpose in filing her lawsuit was to hold drugmakers accountable for ongoing product shortages that have led to patient deaths, gray market price gouging, and an increased reliance on compounding pharmacies that have raised safety questions. In her view, drugmakers are licensed by the FDA and, therefore, have a duty to maintain supplies of a medication that is required for patient health. Specifically, she argued that Hospira violated its duty by switching manufacturing sites for Aquasol A in late 2010 without stockpiling adequate supplies to avoid what became a significant shortage (here is the petition she filed with the Supreme Court). She is now blind in one eye, by the way. Today, though, the US Supreme Court decided not to review her case. The move followed a decision this past June by the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to uphold a ruling issued last summer by a federal judge who last year wrote "there is no authority that supports (her) ar...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs