Failure-To-Warn Claim to Proceed Against Lilly in Prozac Birth Defect Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge has refused to dismiss claims of failure to warn, manufacturing defect and breach of warranty asserted against Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY) in a Prozac birth defect case, finding the plaintiff adequately alleged the drug "was not made in accordance with Lilly’s specifications or performance standards."

On Oct. 7, Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California further held that the plaintiff sufficiently pled that Lilly knew, or should have known, by 1987 of the risk of birth defects from Prozac use based on …