In a move that may hearten the pharmaceutical industry, the US Supreme Court will review a case that decided people from anywhere in the United States can file product-liability lawsuits against drug makers in California, where the courts are seen as more hospitable to consumers.
At issue is the question of jurisdiction, which can be used to determine where a lawsuit may be filed. Last August, the California Supreme Court clarified the extent to which Bristol-Myers Squibb needed to have a presence in California in order to be sued by people from Texas, Ohio, and 33 other states, who claim they were harmed by its Plavix blood thinner.
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