PEDIATRICS Vol. 83 No. 6 June 1989, pp. A23
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DROWNING DRUG RESEARCH

J. F. L. MD

A woman files a lawsuit against a pharmaceutical company, claiming that her baby's birth defects were caused by the use of one of the company's products, a contraceptive gel. The Food and Drug Administration earlier had reviewed the data concerning the product, and concluded that it was safe. The scientific evidence notwithstanding, an appellate court awarded the woman $4.7 million. Stories such as the outcome of Wells v. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. have of course become routine news today. Not so familiar to the public, however, is the effect such lawsuits are having on pharmaceutical innovation in the U.S.

The discounting of medical evidence in court is only one of the problems that has inhibited medical research and testing, according to a report released by the American Medical Association. "The Impact of Product Liability on the Development of New Medical Technologies" argues that research and testing of vaccines, contraceptives and other medical therapies are in a state of paralysis because of the explosion of product-liability litigation. . .