Accutane IBD Cases In Jeopardy As Federal Judge Tosses Causation Expert

TAMPA, Fla. - Summary judgment may on the horizon for defendants in the federal Accutane litigation after the MDL judge excluded the plaintiff's general causation expert, who has testified emphatically that the acne drug causes inflammatory bowel disease. In re Accutane Products Liability Litigation, No. 04md2523 (M.D. Fla.).

Judge James S. Moody Jr. threw out Dr. Ronald Fogel's testimony in a June 15 decision, determining that Fogel's opinions failed to meet Daubert standards because they were based on unreliable patient reports, irreconcilable animal studies and biological plausibility that was more hypothesis than proof of causation. Judge Moody oversees the federal …