In a 35-page ruling, US District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia explained the labeling changes were not required because the Food and Drug Administration would not have approved those changes. As a result, approximately 750 cases are being tossed.
At issue is a legal concept known as preemption, which refers to federal law trumping state law. The companies argued to have the lawsuits dismissed, since the FDA would not have required them to update labels to reflect risks about pancreatic cancer.
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