Plaintiff May Not Add Malpractice Claims Against Therapist in Ambien Suicide Action, 9th Cir. Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — A Nevada federal court properly denied a plaintiff’s motion to add a malpractice claim against a therapist who prescribed Ambien to a man who later committed suicide because the allegations sound in failure to warn rather than malpractice an appellate court has held.

In a Feb. 24 opinion, the appellate court further affirmed that the therapist was fraudulently joined to the action because under Nevada law, therapists have no duty to warn patients of a drug’s side effects.

On March 8, 2010, Andrew Kwasniewski, took Ambien for sleeplessness. That same night, he committed suicide.

Kwasnieski’s wife Jennifer …