FDA Says Rule 45 Precludes MDL Plaintiffs' Subpoena of Dr. David Graham

NEW ORLEANS - The United States has moved to quash the Vioxx MDL plaintiffs' subpoena of FDA employee Dr. David Graham, saying that Rule 45 precludes the government's being served as a 'person' with a third-party subpoena and because the doctrine of sovereign immunity denies enforcement. In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1657 (E.D. La.).

The motion to quash, filed Jan. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, claims that the plaintiffs have improperly sought to circumvent an Administrative Procedures Act (APA) review of the FDA's refusal to permit Dr. Graham to comply …