S.C. Supreme Court Rules Pharmacies Cannot Be Held Liable For Dispensing Drugs

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Supreme Court of South Carolina ruled April 19 that pharmacies cannot be held liable for dispensing drugs in according with a doctor's prescription because they provide a service and do not act as retailers. Madison v. American Home Products Corp., et al. No. 25811 (S.C. Sup. Ct.).

The high court also found that claims of strict liability are inconsistent with the learned intermediary doctrine, which places the duty to warn on the prescribing physicians and not the pharmacist.

In the case at bar, Shirley Madison sued Effexor manufacturer American Home Products and Aiken, the pharmacy that …