Fla. Federal Judge Quashes Subpoenas Served on Novartis in Aredia/Zometa Case

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge has granted Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.’s (NYSE: NVS) motion to quash a subpoena for trial testimony of two Novartis employees in an Aredia/Zometa case, ruling that service was improper because it was made on Novartis’s agent, rather than the individuals.

On Sept. 13, Judge Susan C. Bucklew of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida further held that service was improper because Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(b)(2) does not permit service of a trial subpoena on a party witness who lives beyond a 100-mile radius, even if they are officers …