COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 474
(By Senators Kessler (Acting President), Prezioso, Beach,
Williams, Edgell, Palumbo, Plymale, Wills, D. Facemire, Klempa
and Yost)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 18, 2011.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §55-8-16, relating to
choice of law products' liability claims that are based upon
prescription drug manufacturer's alleged failure to warn.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §55-8-16, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 8. ACTIONS ON CONTRACTS.
§55-8-16. Choice of Law in Pharmaceutical Product Liability
Actions.
(a) It is public policy of this state that, in determining the
law applicable to a product liability claim brought by a
nonresident of this state against the manufacturer or distributor of a prescription drug for failure to warn, the duty to warn shall
be governed solely by the product liability law of the place of
injury ("lex loci delicti")
(b) This section shall be applicable prospectively to all
civil actions commenced on or after July 1, 2011.
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(NOTE: This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)