Constitutional Accountability Center today filed its first brief in the Supreme Court case of Wyeth v. Levine, as amicus curiae in support of the respondent, Diana Levine. Ms. Levine, a professional musician, sued the pharmaceutical company Wyeth in Vermont court based on injuries she suffered—including amputation of her right arm— after she was injected with an anti-nausea drug manufactured by Wyeth. The Vermont courts sided with Ms. Levine, but Wyeth and its supporters have challenged this ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Wyeth v. Levine presents the question of whether state-law claims against drug manufacturers for failing to properly warn consumers about dangerous risks associated with their products should be displaced by federal law and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation. CAC has filed its amicus curiae brief in support of allowing state common law claims to work in conjunction with FDA oversight, because neither the Constitution nor the principles behind it support such a broad intrusion into the States’ ability to protect their citizens, particularly where Congress has not expressed its intent to preempt state law.

CAC assists State and local officials in upholding valid and democratically enacted measures and historic common law remedies. Over the last decade, CAC’s predecessor organization, Community Rights Counsel, filed amicus briefs in preemption cases before the Supreme Court in support of many State and local laws.

Download the brief (PDF)