Maine Woman Says District Court Erred in Applying Learned Intermediary Rule

BOSTON - A Maine woman who sued Solvay Pharmaceuticals for alleged injury due to its antidepressant Luvox said a federal court erred in awarding summary judgment to the company because the learned intermediary rule does not apply. Jane Doe v. Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc., No. 05-1065 (1st Cir.).

Plaintiff Jane Doe sued Solvay on April 29, 2003, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine (No. 03-74-B-W). She claims she suffered a severe manic reaction to the antidepressant Luvox (fluvoxamine) after taking the drug from July 1997 to December 1997 for her obsessive compulsive disorder. Doe says that as …