Learned Intermediary Bars Woman's Ditropan Tooth Loss Claim, Judge Rules

MIAMI - A doctor's warning about possible dry mouth associated with Ditropan ingestion was sufficient to satisfy the drug manufacturer's duty to warn of similar injuries suffered by a Florida woman who sued the company after losing her teeth, a federal judge has ruled. Paparo v. Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical, No. 05-81044 (S.D. Fla.).

In a Jan. 11 decision, Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida held that the physician's knowledge of the dental side effect, and evidence that she conveyed such to the plaintiff, satisfy the requirements of the learned intermediary doctrine …