The Delaware Supreme Court last week upheld the dismissal of a 12-year-old class action accusing AstraZeneca of consumer fraud, saying the group of third-party payor health insurers could not claim injury under applicable state laws.
The ruling brought clarity to Delaware’s consumer fraud act, said Michael P. Kelly, who argued AstraZeneca’s case in the Supreme and Superior courts.
Kelly, chairman of McCarter & English, said the causation requirement is not clearly stated on the face of the statute—a former flaw that is now “crystal clear,” in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“If you claim to be a victim, you have to prove a causal link between the fraud and the injury,” he said. “How can you be a victim if you’re not injured?”
“They clarified what we all suspected to be the case all along.”