Fifth Circuit backs Zyla in arthritis drug copy lawsuit

A Texan drug compounder cannot rely on federal law to avoid a lawsuit over copycat sales of a rheumatoid arthritis treatment, clearing the way for Zyla Life Sciences to pursue claims under state competition laws.

The US Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court's dismissal of Zyla's lawsuit against Wells Pharma of Houston, which sells a compounded version of indomethacin suppositories. The court found that federal law does not override state laws in this case, sending the matter back for further proceedings.

In the ruling, the court wrote that “to establish its preemption defense,” Wells Pharma had to show that the state laws placed different or additional requirements on its conduct. That bar, the court said, had not been met.