The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that makers of generic drugs cannot be sued for failing to warn consumers of the possible side effects of their products if they copy the exact warnings on the brand-name equivalents of the medicines. The majority opinion acknowledged that the decision dealt an “unfortunate hand” that “makes little sense” to those who were harmed by generic drugs and are unable to sue the drug makers.

A sharply divided court decided in a 5-4 judgment that the federal law requiring generics to have the same warnings as their brand-name equivalents trumps state laws that allow people to sue drug companies that fail to present proper warnings for their products.