Schering-Plough Wins Dismissal of ‘Off-Label’ Suit

A recent decision by a New Jersey federal court sets a tough standard for plaintiffs trying to piggyback on government investigations of off-label drug marketing. In dismissing a lawsuit against Schering-Plough Corp., Judge Stanley Chesler ruled that even if the company has violated off-label marketing rules -- as it seems to have done for two cancer drugs -- plaintiffs must prove that the drug was marketed for an ineffective use, and the patient received no benefit from it.