Humira, Mercaptopurine Makers Granted Summary Judgment in Leukemia Case

SAN FRANCISCO - A California federal judge has granted drug makers summary judgment on claims that they failed to properly warn of certain risks posed by Humira and mercaptopurine (6-MP), ruling that the learned intermediary doctrine defeats these claims. Wendell v. Johnson & Johnson Inc., No. 09-4124 (N.D. Calif.).

Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found insufficient evidence for a jury to find that the failure to warn of the risk of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma posed by 6-MP when used singly or in combination with Remicade or Humira proximately caused the death …