A Civil Suit Against Pseudoephedrine Manufacturers

Pharmalot notes that a civil suit has been filed in Arkansas against several pharmaceutical companies for selling products containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine in a manner that they knew or should have know would lead to the manufacture of methamphetamine. An article from an area paper spells out the details:

The suit, filed in Independence County Circuit Court on March 21, names the companies of Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Parrigo Co., PDK Labs Inc and Warner Lambert, as well as Arkansas companies American Novelties Inc., and McQuay Sales Co.

To the very limited extent that I can figure out what the basis for this suit is, it strikes me as a hard argument to win. Holding pharmaceutical companies liable for criminal acts taken by people who misuse their products would seem to put the corporations at the mercy of any black-market chemist who might choose to cook up an illegal drug with one of their products. The same argument, for example, could presumably be used to hold any drug company liable for the illegal diversion of pain medication, and that doesn't seem fair to the company unless -- and perhaps this is what the plaintiffs will have to show -- there was a pattern of willful blindness to the diversion.