Effexor Case Remanded to State Court; McKesson Not Fraudulently Joined, Calif. Judge Rules

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Following a line of recent decisions in similar cases, a California federal judge has remanded an Effexor birth defect case to state court, finding nondiverse defendant McKesson Corp. was not fraudulently joined.

On Oct. 22, Senior Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California determined that plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged a cause of action against McKesson, a distributor, for strict liability under a failure-to-warn theory.

K.E.R., a minor, and her parents, Michael and Ingrid Riley, sued Pfizer Inc., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. and McKesson Corp., alleging that K.E.R. was born with …