Patricia Hamilton, 47, began taking Remicade for her Crohn’s disease in December 2001. Remicade is manufactured and marketing by Centocor, Inc. Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory disease of the intestines. The following year, Hamilton developed drug-induced lupus. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune connective disease that can affect any part of the body.
1. If you were charged with defending a pharmaceutical company,what would you advise the company to do to encourage a court in a future case to reject the learned intermediary doctrine?
Clue: Think about what you would ask both patients and doctors during the discovery process about the facts that led the doctor to prescribe a particular drug to a patient.
2. In rejecting the learned intermediary doctrine, which ethical norm is the court showing it prefers?
Clue: Figure out who benefits from the court’s decision and how this group benefits.