On Wednesday, September 04, 2013, the Alabama Supreme Court heard oral argument on rehearing in the case of Wyeth v. Weeks. The case involves the issue of whether the manufacturer of a brand-name drug may be held liable for injuries caused by its misrepresentations about the drug to a plaintiff who was injured as a result of his doctor’s reliance on the manufacturer’s representations, even though the plaintiff’s prescription was filled with a generic equivalent of the branded drug. Last January, the Alabama Court decided 8-1 that the manufacturer may be held liable for misrepresentation under these circumstances. Wyeth petitioned for rehearing, leading to this week’s argument.

CCL Senior Litigation Counsel Lou Bograd filed an amicus brief on behalf of the American Association for Justice in support of the Court’s earlier ruling. Bograd was also quoted in a Reuters article, “Brand drugmaker liability in the spotlight at Alabama high court,” setting the stage for the argument. ”The defendants want to characterize this as the sky falling and the world ending,” said Bograd in the article. “Misrepresentation resulting in physical injury is a well-recognized tort.”