In a boost for Merck (MRK), the U.S. Supreme Court tossed a lower-court ruling that had revived more than 500 lawsuits accusing the drug maker of failing to properly warn patients about thigh-bone fractures traced to its widely used Fosamax treatment for osteoporosis.
The justices want a federal appeals court to reconsider its 2018 ruling that allowed the lawsuits to proceed. Merck has argued that it tried to update warnings on the product labeling, but that the Food and Drug Administration rejected its efforts over disagreements with proposed wording about fracture risks. Last summer, the U.S. Solicitor General had urged the Supreme Court to review the case.
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