Failure-To-Warn Claims Preempted in Effexor Suicide Case, Judge Rules

OKLAHOMA CITY - State law failure-to-warn claims brought in an Effexor suicide case are federally preempted because there is "clear evidence" that the Food and Drug Administration would have have rejected a label change had the drug maker unilaterally strengthened the warning label, an Oklahoma federal judge has ruled. Dobbs v. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, No. 04-1762 (W.D. Okla.).

On June 13, Judge Stephen P. Friot of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma noted that the FDA had maintained as late as 2007 that there was no evidence to support a suicide warning for the decedent's age group.