Calif. Federal Judge Remands Lariam Case for Lack of Diversity

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge has remanded a lawsuit targeting the anti-malarial drug Lariam, ruling that the non-diverse Genentech defendants were not fraudulently joined because the plaintiff’s evidence support his successor liability theory.

In a May 7 order, Judge Edward Chen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California further held that the defendants failed to prove that the Hoffman La Roche defendants are not California citizens, therefore diversity jurisdiction is destroyed.

California resident Markell Pool was deployed to Somalia in the 1990s while serving in the military and was allegedly given Lariam for the …