Attorneys Keep Federal Regulators from foreclosing Personal Imnjury suits under State law

The Washington Post (3/5, A2, Barnes) reports, "The 6 to 3 vote in the court's most anticipated business decision of the term was a rejection of Bush administration policy and a major setback to pharmaceutical companies, which face thousands of lawsuits in state courts from patients who allege that drugs have harmed them."
The AP (3/5) reports, "The Supreme Court" upheld "a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who lost her arm to gangrene following an injection." The plaintiff, "Diana Levine of Vermont once played the guitar and piano professionally" and "her right arm was amputated after she was injected with Phenergan, an anti-nausea medicine made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, using a method that brings rapid relief, but with grievous risks if improperly administered." There were many other outlets that covered the Wyeth ruling.

To sum up, Levine, a guitarist, suffered from migraines and often received an injection at a nearby clinic of Phenergan in her backside to treat related nausea symptoms. But on one tragic visit in 2000, instead of giving her a shot in the butt, the physician's assistant attempted to inject the drug directly into a vein in her arm using an alternative approved method called intravenous push.The worker accidentally injected the drug into Levine's artery instead of a vein, which has the potential to cause a spasm in the artery, reducing the blood supply and sometimes leading to gangrene. Indeed, the right-handed musician rapidly developed an infection in her right hand and forearm, and doctors were forced to amputate the blackened limb in two stages.Although the packaging was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and described the risks of Phenergan, Levine's lawyers argued that the warning against IV-push should have been stronger. A Vermont jury awarded Levine $6.7 million in damages, and the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the decision in 2006. But Wyeth appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has now weighed in, putting the matter to rest.The three justices who ruled against Levine were John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, and Samuel Alito, Jr., who penned the dissenting opinion. "[I]t is odd (to say the least) that a jury in Vermont can now order for Phenergan what the FDA has chosen not to order for mustard gas," Alito wrote -- referring to the highly toxic but powerful chemical that, despite the significant risk, can be administered via IV push as an anticancer drug.

This was a bittersweet victory for Levine as she much rather would have had her arm and her happy life style back. But at least the money will go to help her make up for what has been lost.