Learned Intermediary Doctrine Defeats Failure-To-Warn Claims

NEW YORK - The learned intermediary doctrine defeats allegations that Eli Lilly & Co. failed to warn that combining Zyprexa with Celexa could have fatal results, a New York federal judge has ruled. Folse v. Eli Lilly & Co., No. 04-1596 (E.D. N.Y.).

Plaintiff failed to present evidence that a different warning would have altered the doctor's decision to prescribe the allegedly lethal drug combination, Senior Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled Oct. 16.

Kevin Folse, a 35-year-old Louisiana resident, died in his sleep in September 2002. His widow, …