It’s turning into a busy summer for decisions examining the tort theory of “innovator liability”: the notion that brand-name drug companies can be held liable for inadequate warnings on other manufacturers’ generic versions of their drugs. The controversial theory has been widely panned on appeal, most recently by courts in the Midwest in June and July.
But innovator liability isn’t dead yet. On Friday the Alabama Supreme Court reaffirmed its lonely decision to uphold the doctrine, dealing a blow to Pfizer Inc. and other brand drug makers.
