Design Defect, Warning Claims to Proceed Against AbbVie in AndroGel Bellwether Case

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge has allowed claims of failure to warn, design defect and breach of express warranty to proceed against AbbVie in a bellwether case involving its AndroGel testosterone drug, finding questions of fact as to whether the drug was accompanied by adequate warnings and whether the plaintiff relied on the drug maker’s alleged misrepresentations.

However, in the Aug. 23 order, Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed the claims of negligence, breach of implied warranty, fraud, and negligent misrepresentation as subsumed by the New Jersey Product Liability Act.