Learned Intermediary Doctrine Defeats Warning Claims in Enbrel Infection Case, Fla. Federal Judge Rules

TAMPA, Fla. — The learned intermediary doctrine bars failure-to-warn claims in an Enbrel infection case because the prescribing doctor had extensive knowledge of the drug’s risks and testified that her decision to prescribe Enbrel to the plaintiff would not have been altered by a different warning, a Florida federal has ruled.

However, in the Sept. 25 order, Senior Judge John E. Steele of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled that the doctrine does not bar the design and manufacturing defect claims, noting that defendants failed to proffer any evidence showing that Enbrel was as safe …