Unleashing the lawyers

I'm actually mildly conflicted by the Supreme Court's decision in Wyeth v. Levine, where the court held Wyeth liable even though the fact that a patient got gangrene and lost her arm was because a medical assistant failed to follow several clear warnings on the drug's packaging. On the one hand, as this Register editorial points out) it's not unhealthy to note that the FDA (which makes plenty of mistakes) is not necessarily the final adjudicator, that juries can have a say. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I agree with this jury's verdict; the warnings were pretty clear and it's not necessarily Wyet's fault that the medical assistant ignored them or didn't know how to pay attention. This decision will no doubt unleash all kinds of lawyers with clients looking for deep pockets even though their cases may be marginal.

I'm a little surprised that MPP and other drug-law reform groups haven't taken note of the fact I noted: that the FDA-approved drug in question whose side effect for improper application was gangrene(!), while there's another effective anti-nauseant available, cannabis, whose only side effects might be a scratchy thorat and a cheerful disposition.

One more argument for medical marijuana

I don't think anybody else has noticed a possible side effect of the Supreme Court decision last week in Wyeth v. Levine. The issue involved an anti-nauseant drug that had genuinely nasty side effects when injected intravenously, and carried half a dozen warnings approved by the FDA to that effect. Unfortunately, a medical assistant was careless and injected Diana Levine in the arm with the drug. She developed gangrene and lost the arm. She not only sued the assistant but the drug manufacturer, which thought that including all the warnings in capital letters, duly approved by the FDA, protected it from liability. The Supreme Court -- differently than in a case last year involving medical devices, ruled 6-3 that it didn't.

Regardless of what one thinks of the outcome of this case, notice that the drug with the potnetially horrendous side effects was an anti-nauseant. It happenes that cancer patients and oncologists have discovered that cannabis has anti-nauseant qualities when used by patients undergoing chemotherapy, which often leads to patients throwing up uncontrollably (and miserably) for hours and even for days. Yet it has virtually no unpleasant side effects, and certainly none remotely approaching causing gangrene if improperly ingested. It should be removed from Schedule I immediately so doctors can at least prescribe it as an alternative to genuinely dangerous anti-nauseants.