High Court Will Not Review Depakote Birth Defect Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review a Depakote birth defect case in which two lower courts rejected the plaintiff’s causation expert testimony on Rule 702 grounds and awarded Abbott Laboratories summary judgment.

On Jan. 7, the high court denied the plaintiffs’ petition for certiorari, in which they argued that the causation opinion of their treating doctor should not have been subject to Daubert exclusion because it was factual in nature. They further argued that both of their causation experts were qualified to opine as to whether Depakote caused their injuries.

In May 2014, Tanja Bruestle-Kumra …