Pradaxa Lung Disease Case Proceeds in Calif. Federal Court Against Boehringer

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical Inc. of failing to warn that its anticoagulant drug Pradaxa (dabigatran) can cause lung disease, ruling that the drug maker’s preemption argument “raises factual issues that are better suited for resolution on a fully developed record.”

In a May 12 order, Judge James Donato of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California further found there are questions of fact at this stage as to whether BIPI had a duty to warn of the risk of interstitial lung disease.

John …