Judge Rejects Serevent Plaintiff's Interpretation of Learned Intermediary

PHOENIX - A judge in Arizona has rejected an argument on reconsideration that a patient's treating physician, not the prescribing doctor, should have been considered the learned intermediary for the purpose of determining whether summary judgment should be awarded to a pharmaceutical defendant. Nix v. SmithKlineBeecham, et al., No. 06-43 (D. Ariz.).

In a Nov. 28 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Judge Stephen M. McNamee rejected the plaintiffs' claim that a Sept. 5 summary judgment award to Serevent manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline thwarted the purpose of the doctrine by presupposing that only the prescribing physician could …