When a drug pricing battle between GlaxoSmithKline and Abbott Laboratories unexpectedly produced a landmark juror discrimination ruling in January at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the decision promised to help boost gay rights across the western United States. On Tuesday, just three weeks later, Nevada’s attorney general acknowledged that the court’s decision in SmithKline Beecham v. Abbott has killed any chance of preserving Nevada’s ban on same-sex marriage in a separate case before the Ninth Circuit.
The GSK case centers on claims that Abbott raised the price of an important HIV drug, Norvir, in order to boost sales of another Abbott drug. The Ninth Circuit ruled Jan. 21 that Abbott’s lawyers were worried about resentment at the price hike in the gay community and improperly struck a gay juror at trial because of his sexual orientation.
