The U.S. Supreme Court enters its third term on Monday, October 6, and the calendar has a series of hot topics at this moment, such as the damages awarded by courts against drug or cigarette companies. The stakes for this term involve lawsuits of millions of dollars, including the case of drugmaker Wyeth, which has been ordered to pay significant damages to Diana Levine.

The Vermont musician sued the drug company after she received treatment with one of their drugs, Phenergan, in 2000. The drug, which was administered through IV-push, was supposed to relief her nausea, but instead, due to being improperly injected, it forced doctors to amputate her arm.

Wyeth lost the suit filed by the Vermont musician after the jury found them guilty of not warning doctors about the risk of Phenergan intravenous injections. On the other hand, the drugmaker argued that the label had FDA’s approval, which should have been taken into consideration.

The drugmaker argues in its appeal that the federal Food and Drug Administration should be the only one to decide whether drug labels have been properly written, instead of a jury that can only take into consideration individual arguments of the drugs in question. This would help drugmakers defend their case against customer claims that can reach millions of dollars in damages.

Another case on the Court’s agenda involves cigarette advertising, which consumers claim have been deceiving. Tobacco companies have had to deal with a series of legal challenges from consumers who claimed the ads to “light” cigarettes are misleading people into thinking they are safer than regular cigarettes. On the other hand, cigarette companies claim that the labels are compliant with the Food and Drug Administration requirements.

Moving on to more religious matters, the Court will also review the case of a religious display by a newly formed religious group entitled Summum in a public park in Pleasant Grove City, Utah. City representatives have asked the court to renew their decision against Summum, after a federal appeals court ruled that the city broke Summum’s right to free speech.

The Court is also expected to rule in the case of the Muslims imprisoned after the September 11 attacks, and decide whether they can sue former Attorney General John Ashcroft and others for harsh treatment and violating their rights.

The case of the navy sonar is still on the agenda, as the Court is asked to revise the decision of limiting its use off the Southern Coast of California, in order to protect marine mammals from being harmed. The Bush administration has argued that the decision decreases the United State’s ability to efficiently defend against a possible attack. Wildlife organizations on the other hand have argued that there is no imminent danger that would require the navy to extensively use the sonar for training.

The list of cases the Supreme Court is set to review in the third term may not be as impressive as the one in the previous term, but it covers a wide range of domains, from health, to people's rights, to animal rights, and even to celebrities' rights... of using dirty words on TV.