Calif. High Court Establishes Causation Standard for Product Liability Cases

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court has ruled that plaintiffs in product liability cases can establish causation by showing that a stronger warning provided to doctors would have caused a prudent patient to decline the treatment.

In answering a question certified by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the state high court, on June 20, held that plaintiffs are not required to show that a stronger warning would have altered the doctor’s decision to prescribe the product.

“Instead, a plaintiff may establish causation by showing that the physician would have communicated the stronger warning to the patient and …