ERISA Does Not Preempt Plan Administrator’s Claims Against PPI Makers, Del. Judge Rules

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware state judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit in which a group benefit plan administrator has accused the makers of proton pump inhibitors of failing to warn that the drugs can cause chronic kidney disease, ruling the claims are not preempted by ERISA.

In an Aug. 11 order, Judge Eric M. Davis of the Delaware Superior Court further ruled that the claims were pled with the sufficiency required by Rule 12(b)(1).

LHC Group, a Louisiana group benefit plan administrator, sued Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, alleging their …