Claims to Proceed Against Abbott in Humira Cancer Suit

HOUSTON - A failure-to-warn claim brought in a Humira cancer case is not barred by the learned intermediary doctrine because Abbott Laboratories marketed the drug directly to the plaintiff and paid her physician for recommending the Humira clinical trial in which the plaintiff participated, a Texas federal judge has ruled. Murthy v. Abbott Laboratories, No. 4:11-105 (S.D. Texas).

On Nov. 8, Judge Keith P. Ellison of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas further ruled that the claim is not barred by Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code Section 82.007(b)(1), which states that there is a rebuttable …