Accutane Lawsuit Will Stay in Federal Court; No Claims Against Pharmacy Chain

An Accutane suit brought by 71 of the acne drug’s users against manufacturer Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. will stay in federal court as the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois found May 23 that the plaintiffs improperly joined a nondiverse Walgreens pharmacy to defeat diversity jurisdiction (Aranda v. Walgreen Co., S.D. Ill., 3:12-cv-00337-DRH-DGW, 5/23/12).

Judge David R. Herndon held Gaby Aranda and the other plaintiffs, who originally sued in state court, fraudulently joined Walgreen Co. to their suit because Illinois’s learned intermediary doctrine protects, in all but a few circumstances, pharmacies from liability due to ...