Williams & Connolly Client GSK Prevails in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

March 2020

On March 9, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of Williams & Connolly client GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”), upholding the lower court's refusal to reopen an inadequate labeling case concerning GSK’s drug Paxil®.  After hearing oral argument by partner Sarah Harris, the Seventh Circuit rejected the plaintiff’s bid to vacate its earlier decision that the claim was preempted in light of the Supreme Court’s intervening decision in Merck v. Albrecht.  Specifically, the court held that Albrecht did not repudiate the impossibility preemption doctrine, but merely clarified it.  The court further held that its decision would have been the same post-Albrecht.  The case was closely watched by the products liability bar and will have broader significance for the pharmaceutical industry in other labeling cases.  Lisa Blatt and Jack Pararas also represented GSK in this appeal.

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