Learned Intermediary Doctrine Bars Cialis Warning Claims, Wash. Federal Judge Rules

SEATTLE — The learned intermediary doctrine defeats a lawsuit filed accusing Eli Lilly of failing to warn that its erectile dysfunction drug Cialis can cause strokes because the evidence shows the prescribing doctor was adequately warned, a Washington federal judge has ruled.

In a Dec. 18 order, Judge John Coughenour of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington referred to the prescribing doctor’s testimony that he was aware of the drug’s risks and would not have acted differently had he been presented with the warning suggested by plaintiffs.

David Dearinger alleged he had an intracranial brain hemorrhage …