Pharmaceutical manufacturer wins dismissal with prejudice of pharmaceutical products liability lawsuit
Client(s) Pharmaceutical manufacturer
The California Appellate Court affirmed dismissal with prejudice of all claims against a pharmaceutical manufacturer represented by Jones Day. The plaintiffs were family members of a man who had received one of the manufacturer’s prescription drugs as part of his treatment for cancer years before he died. The plaintiffs brought wrongful death and survival claims in the Superior Court of California against a variety of medical providers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, alleging that the prescription drugs with which the decedent had been treated caused him to experience a variety of adverse reactions and ultimately caused his death. The plaintiffs alleged numerous claims under California law, including strict liability and negligence claims under design defect and failure to warn theories, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, conspiracy, and loss of consortium. The pharmaceutical manufacturer moved to dismiss all claims, arguing that Plaintiffs lacked standing to bring many of the claims and those they did have standing to bring were barred by the statute of limitations and otherwise substantively deficient. The trial court agreed with each of the pharmaceutical manufacturer’s arguments and granted dismissal with prejudice after only one motion to dismiss.
On appeal, the California Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s decision in a detailed decision that explained why the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring most of their claims against the pharmaceutical manufacturer, and the remainder were barred by the applicable statute of limitations.
