5th Cir. Reverses Summary Judgment Award to Drug Makers in Abilify Action

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals panel has reversed an award of summary judgment to the makers of Abilify, finding the deposition testimony created a question of fact as to whether the plaintiff was aware of a connection between the drug and his involuntary mouth movements before the expiration of the one-year prescriptive period.

In a March 13 opinion, the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found the testimony revealed a possibility that the plaintiff did not know Abilify could cause tardive dyskinesia — a neurological disorder —and that his doctors did not warn him as such.

Raymond Crochet …