Federal Judge Grants Adventis Summary Judgment in Insulin Case

HATO Rey, Puerto Rico - A Puerto Rico federal judge granted Adventis Pharma summary judgment in a Lantus wrongful death lawsuit, ruling that the learned intermediary doctrine shields the drug maker from failure to warn claims. Mendez v. Adventis Pharma, No. 02-2608 (D. P.R.).

Lantus does not fall within the limited type of prescription drugs that are exempt from the doctrine, Judge Raymond L. Acosta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico explained in a Sept. 30 order.

Winston Mendez Montes De Oca sued Adventis in 2002, alleging that Mendez's cancer was caused by his use …