As previously reported here, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has specifically declined to adopt the learned intermediary doctrine. Johnson & Johnson Corp. v. Karl, No. 33211 (W.Va. June 27, 2007). The Court reasoned that the healthcare industry has changed and that pharmaceutical manufacturers “are pushing their products onto the public like never before.” As a result, the court ruled, pharmaceutical manufacturers should be subject to the same duty to warn as other defendants in products liability cases. West Virginia now joins twenty-two other states where the highest courts have declined to adopt the doctrine.
The Court’s decision, however, may not be limited to drug manufacturers. While it is clear from the decision that drug manufacturers cannot escape liability for harmful prescriptions by laying all responsibility on doctors, a broad reading of the decision suggests that medical device companies and other medical companies that target consumers directly will also no longer be able to rely on the learned intermediary doctrine in West Virginia.
A copy of the Court’s decision can be found by clicking here.
