Source: https://salient-news.com/2010/04/eli-lilly-and-company-and-sandoz-lose-preemption-battle-in-generic-prozac-case/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 18:29:31+00:00

Document:
Last Friday, March 26, 2010, a United States District Court Judge in Los Angeles rejected Eli Lilly and Company (“Lilly”) and Sandoz Inc.’s attempt to dismiss a case arising from the suicide of Noe Carrasco, a 26-year-old Southern Californian man who was taking the generic version of the antidepressant Prozac at the time of his suicide. The lawsuit was brought by the young man’s mother, Rosemary Dorsett, who claims the manufacturers failed to warn of the suicide risks associated with fluoxetine (Prozac).
Both Lilly and Sandoz moved to dismiss the case arguing that the FDA would not have allowed a warning concerning fluoxetine’s suicide risks. Sandoz additionally argued that, as a generic manufacturer, it is not legally allowed to voluntarily revise its warning labels. In a 30 page opinion, Judge A. Howard Matz of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California rejected Lilly and Sandoz’s arguments. The case is Dorsett v. Sandoz, Inc., Case No. CV 06-7821 (C.D.Cal., March 26, 2010).
In permitting Ms. Dorsett’s claims to be tried on the merits, the Court held: “Absent clear Congressional intent to do so, the Court will not foreclose the traditionally available state law remedy for which the [Food Drug and Cosmetics Act] provides no substitute.” (Order, p. 29).
Ms. Dorsett is represented by the national law firm, Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman. Baum Hedlund has the longest track-record of handling SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressant cases such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, and is currently representing hundreds of antidepressant birth defect clients in addition to suicide cases.
The firm has successfully argued against preemption in numerous antidepressant product liability cases, including: Motus v. Pfizer, 127 F. Supp. 2d 1085 (C.D. Cal. 2000); Witczak v. Pfizer, 377 F.Supp.2d 726 (D.Minn. 2005); Zikis v. Pfizer, Inc., 2005 WL 1126909 (N.D. Ill. 2005); Cartwright v. Pfizer, Inc., 369 F.Supp.2d 876 (E.D. Tex. 2005); Tucker v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 596 F.Supp.2d 1225 (S.D.Ind. 2008); Knipe v.SmithKline Beecham, 583 F.Supp.2d 553 (E.D.Pa 2008); Collins v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 2008 WL 744070 (Pa. Ct.Com.Pl. March 11, 2008); Turek v. SmithKline Beecham, Case No. 3596 (Pa. Ct.Com.Pl. March 18, 2009); Forst v. SmithKline Beecham Corp., 639 F.Supp.2d 948 (E.D.Wis., 2009); Mason v. SmithKline Beecham, __F.3d __, 2010 WL 605922 (7th Cir. 2010).
Lilly was represented by Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP (Kansas City and Irvine). Sandoz was represented by Hollingsworth, LLP (Washington, D.C.) and Parker, Milliken, Clark, O’Hara & Samuelian (Los Angeles).

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