State v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, one of the defendants in an action filed by the State of Alabama against 73 pharmaceutical companies, has filed a petition for a writ of mandamus requesting that this Court direct the trial court to vacate its order denying Novartis’s motion to sever the claims against it from the claims asserted against other companies and to enter an order severing those claims. We grant the petition and issue the writ.

I. Factual Background and Procedural History

The State sued 73 pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, alleging that those companies “engaged in…