N.J. Federal Judge Awards Merck Summary Judgment in Fosamax Injury Case

TRENTON, N.J. — Claims that Merck failed to warn a plaintiff and her prescribing doctor that Fosamax may cause atypical femur fractures are federally preempted because clear evidence exists that the Food and Drug Administration would have rejected a stronger warning label at the relevant time, a New Jersey federal judge has ruled.

On June 17, Judge Joel Pisano of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey further held that the plaintiffs failed to establish proximate cause because their own expert concluded that whether the label was updated, the plaintiff still would have suffered an injury.

Barbara …