Posted on 01/05/2009 2:21:44 PM PST by BreeLee
No, it's not some hypothetical offered by critics of lawsuits against gun manufacturers; it's a real case. From Ashley County v. Pfizer, Inc., decided today by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit (some paragraph breaks added):
The Counties allege that the Defendants knew that their products were being used illegally at least as early as 1986 when the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began pushing for controls over the sale of products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. During two different time periods, in 1995-1996 and in 1998-1999, the DEA placed restrictions on the importation of bulk ephedrine and tracked the sales of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine outside of "blister packs." According to the Counties, methamphetamine use and abuse declined dramatically during these time periods, but the Defendants allegedly fought to create loopholes in the regulations to continue reaping large profits in the sale of their products. In time, the Counties say, methamphetamine cooks learned how to exploit the loopholes, and methamphetamine use rose again.The Defendants are manufacturers and distributors of over-the-counter cold and allergy medications containing either ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. None of the Defendants are retailers, nor do they sell the medications directly to the public. The Counties allege that the Defendants marketed and sold their products in Arkansas knowing that the products were being used illegally to manufacture methamphetamine. [Footnote: In their briefs to this court, the Counties allege that the Defendants intentionally targeted methamphetamine cooks by printing "pseudoephedrine" on the outside packaging of their cold medicines. These allegations were not included in the complaint, by which we are constrained in reviewing this dismissal on the pleadings. In any event, the Counties do not dispute that the packaging complied with the federal Food and Drug Administration regulations.]
(Excerpt) Read more at volokh.com ...
I want to strangle the @#$%!@ legislators who made it harder for me to breathe. I have to present ID, sign and can only buy 48 tablets per week of a medicine that I take on a regular basis. I would actually be better off if they made it prescription only again.
Have you considered buying the raw ingredient from you local meth brewer? No, I don’t want the meth, I just want the pseudoephedrine.
Let’s sue the oil companies because people use gasoline as an accelerant in arson fires.
Let’s sue cutlery manufacturers because people use their products in stabbings.
Let’s sue axe manufacturers because people misuse those too.
FReeper lawyers, won’t you help? The gummint needs the money.
An invalid legal argument then and still is.
That one's going to be hard to prove unless plaintiff(s) have quite the paper trail.
They took phenylpropanolamine (another effective decongestant) off the shelves for no logical reason (given that almost anything can be found to harm someone somewhere). And now it appears that sooner or later we won’t be able to get relief from a cold from pseudoephidrine because a number of idiots want to have fun killing themselves?
Watch out Elmer’s and 3M, you’re next!
Agreed, 1,000%. Also the drug warriors who legislate by regulation... and arrest and/or kill people based on those illegal regulations. Add to that list the cop suckers who cheer on the war on (some) drugs and that totes up to be a fair number of (pseudo-conservative) statist idiots. Those who have to deal with serious pain (like me) can easily run afoul of the drug warriors, as can any decent doctor who TREATS pain as the serious problem it is.
Lawyers sue everybody in the hope that someone will settle rather than going to court.
The possibilities are endless.
Oil producers knowingly sell fuel to criminals.
Ah, time for law school.
Exactly. It’s the one decongestant I used because it had the fewest side-effects (a lot of the others make me a little on the queasy and light-headed side). And now, because some bum in a trailer in the woods is boiling this on his stove, I can’t buy it?
I was actually ordering it on-line from Canada, after having sent them a copy of my drivers license and other info, and then the company changed their formula to conform to the new guidelines. So now I’m back where I started from, having to buy something much stronger from my local drugstore (after giving them my drivers license and practically a blood sample).
I am unsure what I think about this.
New Zealand has, apparently, the highest per-capita production and use of Methamphetamine in the world. Most of what is manufactured in NZ is made in West Auckland, where I live. It is a huge problem.
Who to sue? Obviously, if possible, sue the crooks. If they can catch them, that is. And if they can get at their assets. Much easier said than done, but something that needs to be done.
Sue the Pharmaceutical companies, for producing a product that can be used in a hazardous fashion? Hmmmm... not too sure about that one. Methamphetamine has been around since WW-II, so there has been plenty of time for the pharmaceutical companies to figure out how to deliver ~ephedrine in a manner that it can’t easily be chemically extracted by Meth cooks. This hasn’t been done, for some reason.
It should definitely be prescription-only.
I’m going to have to think about it, and develop my opinion based on the content of this thread. For the moment I have an open mind on the subject...
I see we are still on the road of stupidity.
I'll bet you can prove the counties knew the drug dealers were using county roads to pick up the ingredients, and make deliveries.
lawyers trying to expand the circle of “proximate cause”
they are taking cause and effect to absurdity,
why not sue the truck drivers carrying the legal medicine?
why not sue the traffic light maker for creating a green light that allowed the truck to move through the streets?
The problem arises when they want to have fun killing other people, like this scroat did: Antonie Dixon
So I assume you can sue anyone who uses steel since you can make a knife from the steel...
The nutters never sleep.
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