Zometa Action Time-Barred Under Calif. Law; Equitable Tolling Not Applicable, Federal Judge Rules

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge has granted Novartis Pharmaceutical Corp. (NYSE: NVS) summary judgment in a Zometa case, finding the claims are barred under the state’s two-year statute of limitations because the plaintiff was put on notice of his claims by 2003, but did not file suit until 2006.

On Oct. 2, Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California further ruled that the claims are not equitably tolled by an earlier-filed class action because the plaintiff did not rely on the class action in filing suit.

Michel Hendrix was diagnosed …