Novartis Entitled to Summary Judgment in Aredia/Zometa Case, 9th Cir. Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court has affirmed a grant of summary judgment to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NYSE: NVS) in an Aredia/Zometa case, finding the plaintiff failed to prove proximate cause because his doctor resumed his bisphosphonate treatment after he developed osteonecrosis of the jaw.

In a Feb. 20 memorandum, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed that there is no evidence in the record that Aredia and Zometa caused the plaintiff’s osteonecrosis of the jaw.

In 2007, Duane Luttrell sued Novartis in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, alleging that Aredia and …