COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 474

(By Senators Kessler (Acting President), Prezioso, Beach, Williams, Edgell, Palumbo, Plymale, Wills, D. Facemire, Klempa and Yost)

____________

[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported February 18, 2011.]

____________

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.

____________

    (NOTE: This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.)