Judge: Plaintiffs' Malpractice Claims Against Physicians Defeat Diversity

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - A federal judge recently remanded two Texas Vioxx personal injury cases, declaring the plaintiffs adequately pleaded a cause of action for medical malpractice against their non-diverse prescribing physicians. Garcia, et al. v. Merck & Co. Inc., et al., No. 06-53; Salinas, et al. v. Merck & Co. Inc., et al., No. 06-56 (S.D. Texas).

Judge Janis Graham Jack of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas said on March 7 that Merck & Co. Inc. failed to meet its burden of showing improper joinder after the drug manufacturer had removed the two …