Court: Defendant Can't Yet Rely on Unavoidably Unsafe Products Doctrine

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A pharmaceutical defendant has been ordered to answer a plaintiff's second amended complaint after a federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss the claims based on the Unavoidably Unsafe Products Doctrine. Weiss v. Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., et al., No. 05-527 (E.D. Ky.).

Judge Joseph M. Hood of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled Dec. 7 that the doctrine should not be read to provide blanket immunity from strict liability to all prescription drugs and their manufacturers. Rather, the doctrine - which appears in comment k to the Restatement (Second) of Torts §402A …