Zelnorm Fraud, Warning Claims Don't Create Federal Issues, Judge Rules

NEWARK, N.J. - A New Jersey judge has remanded a Zelnorm personal injury claim to state court, despite a resident defendant's contention that doing so would upset the literal interpretation of the removal statute and ignore federal issues created by the plaintiff's state law claims. Sullivan v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., et al., No. 08-1091 (D. N.J.).

Judge Dickinson Richards Debevoise of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled Sept. 10 that allowing Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. to remove the case prior to being served would create an absurd result not intended by Congress when it created the …