Bristol-Myers, Pfizer Brush Away Last Eliquis Cases

Fifteen suits against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Pfizer Inc. over the blood thinner Eliquis were properly kept in federal court and dismissed, the Second Circuit ruled March 26.

Federal drug label law preempts, or bars, the claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said in an opinion by Judge Richard J. Sullivan.

Eliquis belongs to a new class of blood thinners designed to be easier to use than older drugs such as warfarin. However, unlike warfarin, some of the newer blood thinners have no reversal agent.

Plaintiffs alleged that Eliquis was defectively designed and carried insufficient warnings ...