Novartis Lawsuit Over Macular Degeneration Treatment Proceeds

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. must defend a woman’s lawsuit alleging a macular degeneration treatment caused her vision problems, as a federal court in Arkansas said federal drug labeling law doesn’t preempt her claims.

Barbara Frye said she received a Beovu injection Jan. 28, 2020, and learned in March 2020 that she had retinal vascular occlusion, a blockage in veins that carry blood from the retina.

Novartis revised Beovu’s labeling June 8, 2020, to include a new warning about retinal vascular occlusion, but the label carried no such warning before that time, she said.

Frye alleged Novartis failed to warn doctors about ...