Class Certification Denied in Blood Coagulation Monitor Case

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge has denied class action certification of an action accusing the makers of a blood coagulation monitor of failing to adequately warn of possible device malfunctions, ruling that individual inquiries will be necessary to determine proximate cause.

On April 24, Judge Gonzalo Curiel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California explained that a learned intermediary doctrine analysis requires demonstrating proximate cause, and that a proximate cause determination will ultimately lead to individual inquiries into each doctor’s experience with the product.

In the late 1990's Alere Inc.’s predecessor, HomoSense Inc., …