Learned Intermediary, Texas Statute Bar Zyprexa Suicide Claim

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Eli Lilly has been awarded summary judgment in Texas based on the learned intermediary doctrine and a law that creates a rebuttable presumption that a drug's warnings are adequate if they were approved by the FDA. Ebel v. Eli Lilly Co., No. 04-194 (S.D. Texas).

Summary judgment was awarded Nov. 14 in a Zyprexa case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas where a plaintiff sued Eli Lilly on behalf of a man who killed himself while taking the drug. Beatriz Ebel alleged that Eli Lilly failed to adequately warn patients and …