Learned Intermediary Doctrine Defeats Plavix Failure-To-Warn Claims, N.J. Judge Rules

TRENTON, N.J. — Alabama’s learned intermediary doctrine defeats a Plavix failure-to-warn case because the plaintiff failed to show that a different warning would have altered his physician’s decision to prescribe the anti-coagulant, a New Jersey federal judge has ruled.

On Jan. 7, Judge Freda L. Wolfson of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted the drug makers’ motion for summary judgment, finding the plaintiff failed to show Bristol Myers–Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) and Sanofi–Aventis U.S. L.L.C. failed to adequately warn doctors of the risk of bleeding complications.

Dempsey Cooper, an Alabama resident, underwent a left heart …