On July 1, 2009, Bernstein Liebhard LLP filed an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in UCFW Local 1776 v. Eli Lilly and Co., 09-0222-CV, on behalf of AARP and Prescription Access Litigation LLC (“PAL”) in support of plaintiff-appellees.

Last year, United States District Court Judge Jack Weinstein certified a class comprised of third-party healthcare payors, such as health & welfare funds, labor unions, and insurance companies, who claimed that the antipsychotic prescription drug Zyprexa was overpriced, marketed off-label, and contained additional safety risks that were hidden from consumers by manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company. Amici’s brief to the Second Circuit argues that deceptive pharmaceutical marketing can affect doctors’ medical decisions, harming consumers and leading to high costs and decreased access to treatment. Pharmaceutical companies annually spend billions of dollars aggressively marketing to doctors, which leads to over-prescription of newer, more expensive drugs, often before potentially harmful side effects are known or the risks are otherwise minimized or misrepresented.

AARP is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of nearly forty million members that is dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of people 50 and over, including advocating for access to affordable health care. PAL is a national coalition of more than 130 organizations in 36 states and the District of Columbia that seeks to make prescription drugs affordable for consumers by challenging illegal pricing tactics and deceptive marketing by pharmaceutical companies and others.

Bernstein Liebhard LLP was established in 1993 as a boutique law firm to represent investors and consumers in complex litigation throughout the United States. Bernstein Liebhard LLP is nationally recognized for its work on behalf of injured victims. The National Law Journal has named the Firm, for six consecutive years, as one of the top plaintiffs’ litigation firms in the country. Moreover, the Firm has received Martindale-Hubbell’s highest ratings for legal ability (A) and ethical standards (V) and has been selected for the Legal 500 for the past three years.

The brief Bernstein Liebhard LLP prepared for AARP and PAL is available online here.

For additional information on the Firm’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice group click here.