State's Fraud Action Against Astra Zeneca Remanded to State Court

COLUMBIA, S.C. - An action in which the state of South Carolina accuses Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals LP of fraudulently marketing its antipsychotic drug Seroquel was remanded to state court by a South Carolina federal judge on May 5. McMaster v. Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, No. 7:09-387 (D. S.C.).

Judge Henry F. Floyd of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina ruled that the complaint fails to present a substantial federal issue sufficient to justify the exercise of federal subject matter jurisdiction.

In January, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster sued Astra Zeneca in the Spartanburg County Court …