Example Image
Civitas Outlook
Topic
Economic Dynamism
Published on
Feb 5, 2025
Contributors
Richard Epstein
Benjamin Flowers
"Research Chemist in Lab" U.S. Department of Agriculture, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Why Failure-to-Market Claims Are Preempted Under Federal Law

Contributors
Richard Epstein
Richard Epstein
Senior Research Fellow
Richard Epstein
Benjamin Flowers
Benjamin Flowers
Benjamin Flowers
Summary
This short white paper addresses preemption arguments relevant to “failure to market” claims, which cover those cases in which plaintiffs allege that drug companies may be held liable for failing to bring to market, as quickly as possible, drugs that present (allegedly) fewer side effects than other, FDA-approved drugs already on the market.
Summary
This short white paper addresses preemption arguments relevant to “failure to market” claims, which cover those cases in which plaintiffs allege that drug companies may be held liable for failing to bring to market, as quickly as possible, drugs that present (allegedly) fewer side effects than other, FDA-approved drugs already on the market.
Listen to this article

A California appellate court invented out of whole cloth a new and troubling theory of tort liability. Specifically, the court held that drug companies have a duty to develop and bring to market drugs that are supposedly safer and more effective than another, FDA-approved drug the company sells already. The claim rested on factual premises contradicted by all publicly available information, the acceptance of which could seriously disrupt the FDA approval process. This disruption gives rise to an issue the parties did not raise on appeal and that the appeals court never addressed, notwithstanding the complex, comprehensive statutes governing drug approval: these state tort law claims are preempted under theories of both field and conflict (including obstacle) preemption. This White Paper explains why it is imperative for the federal government and private parties to advance these preemption arguments, and why the courts should accept them.

Read the Issue Brief

This white paper was originally published by the Pacific Research Institute's Center for Medical Economics and Innovation.

Keep Reading & Download PDF
10:13
1x
10:13
More articles

The Civitas Outlook Energy Symposium

Economic Dynamism
Jan 21, 2026

The War on Affordable and Abundant Energy Continues

Politics
Jan 21, 2026
View all

Join the newsletter

Receive new publications, news, and updates from the Civitas Institute.

Sign up
More on

Economic Dynamism

The Causal Effect of News on Inflation Expectations

This paper studies the response of household inflation expectations to television news coverage of inflation.

Carola Binder, Pascal Frank, Jane M. Ryngaert
Economic Dynamism
Aug 22, 2025
The Rise of Inflation Targeting

This paper discusses the interactions between politics and economic ideas leading to the adoption of inflation targeting in the United States.

Carola Binder
Economic Dynamism
Aug 11, 2025
AI and the Future of Society and Economy

Large language and generative AI models like ChatGPT are the equivalent of the first automobiles: fun to play with, somewhat unreliable, and maybe a little dangerous. But over time, the lesson for will be clear: Who Learns Fastest, Wins.

Joel Kotkin, Marshall Toplansky
Economic Dynamism
Jul 17, 2025
Automated Detection of Emotion in Central Bank Communication: A Warning

Can LLMs help us better understand the role of emotion in central bank communication?

Carola Binder, Nicole Baerg
Economic Dynamism
Jul 1, 2025
No items found.
The Housing Crisis

Soaring housing costs are driving young people towards socialism—only dispersed development and expanded property ownership can preserve liberal democracy.

Economic Dynamism
Jan 8, 2026
America Needs a Transcontinental Railroad

A proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern would foster efficiencies, but opponents say the deal would kill competition.

Economic Dynamism
Jan 5, 2026
America’s great migration

The young and ambitious are fleeing the stagnant coastal states for the booming heartland.

Economic Dynamism
Dec 21, 2025
How California is failing its Latino population

The current California regime has been a disaster for minorities.

Economic Dynamism
Dec 9, 2025

Neo-Feudalism: Tech Oligarchs and the Secular "Clerisy"

Economic Dynamism
Oct 20, 2025
1:05

Unlocking Housing Supply: Market-Driven Solutions for Growing Communities

Economic Dynamism
Sep 30, 2025
1:05

Trump’s Tariff-for-Income-Tax Swap

Economic Dynamism
Aug 21, 2025
1:05

Why the Damage to Fed Independence May Have Already Been Done

Economic Dynamism
Jul 24, 2025
1:05

Richard Epstein: Law and Economics of Public Sector Unions

Economic Dynamism
Jun 19, 2025
1:05
The Hidden Costs of Expanding Deposit Insurance

Expanding deposit insurance will only exacerbate financial risk and regulatory dependence, imposing costs on banks, their customers, and taxpayers. 

Daniel J. Smith
Economic Dynamism
Nov 7, 2025
No items found.
The Civitas Outlook Energy Symposium

Energy policy in America has become, over the past few decades, one of the most fraught debates in American politics.

Richard M. Reinsch II
Economic Dynamism
Jan 21, 2026
From Energy Repression to Energy Dominance

Even the most powerful computers on earth have no idea how much energy America will need for the next generation. What, then, is the path forward?

Russ Greene
Economic Dynamism
Jan 21, 2026
America’s Energy Revolution Continues

Twenty years ago, energy discourse was awash in buzzwords and concepts such as "smart grid" and "hydrogen highway." These ideas now seem as quaint and obsolete as rotary dial telephones.

Steven F. Hayward
Economic Dynamism
Jan 21, 2026
Oil Remains the Epicenter of Commerce, Geopolitics, and Energy

The question for framing next generation energy policies distills to knowing whether there are any truly new means for meeting society’s energy needs.

Mark Mills
Economic Dynamism
Jan 21, 2026
No items found.