Zometa Label Change Evidence Not Preempted, Fla. Federal Judge Rules

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge has refused to bar plaintiffs from presenting evidence in an upcoming Zometa trial that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NYSE: NVS) should have changed the drug’s FDA-approved label by recommending a different dosing regimen.

On Sept. 23, Judge Susan Bucklew of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida found Novartis failed to show that changing the dosage recommendations would render Zometa a new drug. The judge concluded that such evidence is therefore not federally preempted under PLIVA Inc. v. Mensing.

Ruth Dopson-Troutt was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and received …