11th Circuit Upholds Ruling in Favor of Roche on Accutane Claims

ATLANTA - A federal judge did not err in awarding summary judgment to Hoffman-La Roche on negligent failure-to-warn and strict liability claims, because the plaintiff failed to show that Roche knew or should have known that Accutane could cause suicide without premonitory symptoms, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled. Stupak v. Hoffman-La Roche, No. 07-15980 (11th Cir.).

In a June 10 opinion, the panel affirmed that under Wisconsin law, the duty to warn is a necessary element of both negligence and strict liability failure-to-warn claims.

Seventeen-year-old B.J. Stupak, the son of U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., killed …