Griffith v. Blatt

51 P.3d 1256, 334 Or. 456, 2002 Ore. LEXIS 586
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 15, 2002
DocketCC 9502-01211; CA A93458; SC S46476
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 51 P.3d 1256 (Griffith v. Blatt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffith v. Blatt, 51 P.3d 1256, 334 Or. 456, 2002 Ore. LEXIS 586 (Or. 2002).

Opinion

*459 DURHAM, J.

Plaintiff Patricia E. Griffith seeks review of a decision of the Court of Appeals that affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment against plaintiff on her claims against defendants Rugby Laboratories, Inc. (Rugby) and Stout. 1 Griffith v. Blatt, 158 Or App 204, 973 P2d 385 (1999). Plaintiff claimed that she was injured when she used a lotion, Lindane, that her physician had prescribed. Rugby manufactured the lotion and Stout, a pharmacist, filled the prescription. Plaintiff argued that neither her physician nor Stout had warned her that Lindane was toxic if used improperly. The Court of Appeals determined that plaintiffs claim against Rugby was not timely filed and that the “learned intermediary” doctrine protected Stout from liability. We discuss that doctrine in greater detail later in this opinion. We affirm the Court of Appeals’ determination that the claim against Rugby was untimely, but conclude that the learned intermediary doctrine does not protect Stout from liability in this case. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals and remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings.

Because the trial court dismissed plaintiffs action on summary judgment, ORCP 47, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from it in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the party opposing summary judgment. Jones v. General Motors Corp., 325 Or 404, 408, 939 P2d 608 (1997). The Court of Appeals applied that standard in summarizing the evidence as follows:

“On February 26,1993, plaintiff visited Dr. Philip Blatt, seeking treatment for a skin condition. Blatt gave plaintiff a prescription for two ounces of Lindane, one percent lotion, instructing the pharmacist to fill the prescription and to type ‘As directed’ on the label. Plaintiff took that prescription to Stout, who filled the prescription, placing the lotion in a plain prescription bottle which bore generic ‘For external use only and ‘Shake well’ labels. In accordance with Blatt’s instructions, Stout typed the notation ‘As directed’ *460 on the prescription label and affixed that label to the bottle. The bottle bore no other instructions or warnings. There is no evidence that Stout gave plaintiff any verbal instructions or warnings concerning the lotion including, particularly, any warnings pertaining to frequency or duration of use.
“Plaintiff applied the lotion over her entire body once a day, after her daily shower for five or six days until she had used the entire bottle. After each application, plaintiff did not shower for the next 24 hours. Properly used, Lindane lotion should be applied no more than two times and should be washed off within 12 hours after any application.
“Within a week to two weeks after beginning to use the Lindane lotion, plaintiff began to suffer medical problems, including convulsions, dizziness, weight loss, hair loss, sleep disturbance, and cognitive dysfunction. On June 10, 1993, plaintiff watched a segment of the television program “Good Morning America,” which featured a report about a child who had suffered convulsions after overexposure to Lindane lotion. Immediately after that program, plaintiff retrieved her empty bottle of Lindane lotion and told her husband, ‘This is the same stuff.’ In August 1993, plaintiff consulted with a physician,[ 2 who diagnosed her symptoms to be the result of central nervous system toxicity due to overexposure to Lindane lotion.”

Griffith v. Blatt, 158 Or App at 207-09.

On February 23, 1995, plaintiff filed claims for negligence against Stout, for medical malpractice against Dr. Blatt, and for strict liability against Reed & Carnick, a drug manufacturing company. On June 12, 1995, plaintiff stipulated to a dismissal of its claims against Reed & Carnick.

On June 21, 1995, plaintiff filed an amended complaint that alleged a medical malpractice claim against Blatt, *461 a strict liability claim against Rugby, and added a strict liability claim to the negligence claim against Stout. 3

On Stout’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court concluded that ORS 30.905(2) barred plaintiffs product liability claim against Stout. ORS 30.905(2) provides:

“Except as provided in ORS 30.907 and 30.908(1) to (4), a product liability civil action shall be commenced not later than two years after the date on which the death, injury or damage complained of occurs.”

The trial court also dismissed plaintiffs negligence claim against Stout.

On Rugby’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court concluded that ORS 30.905(2) barred plaintiffs product liability claim against Rugby. The court reasoned that, even if the two-year limitations period commenced when plaintiff discovered her injury rather than when the injury occurred, plaintiff had discovered her injury, at the latest, when she watched the “Good Morning America” program on June 10, 1993. Therefore, according to the court, the period of limitations began running more than two years before June 21, 1995, when plaintiff filed her amended complaint that named Rugby as a defendant.

Plaintiff appealed. Plaintiff argued that Rugby had failed to establish that plaintiff had discovered her claim against Rugby more than two years before plaintiff had filed her amended complaint that named Rugby. The Court of Appeals declined to address plaintiffs arguments, opining that her arguments on appeal differed from those presented to the trial court. Griffith, 158 Or App at 210.

*462 The Court of Appeals assumed for purposes of analysis that plaintiffs strict liability claim against Stout was timely, but concluded that the learned intermediary doctrine barred that claim. Id. at 211. The Court of Appeals also concluded that plaintiffs negligence claim against Stout failed because plaintiff did not controvert Stout’s affidavit averring that his conduct satisfied the pertinent standard of care for pharmacists. Id. at 217.

We first address the timeliness of plaintiffs claim against Rugby. As already noted, the Court of Appeals concluded that plaintiffs arguments on appeal differed from those that she had presented to the trial court and declined to address them. That response was correct with respect to some of plaintiffs arguments in the trial court, such as whether plaintiffs delay in filing a claim against Rugby was due to the tardiness of some defendants in responding to plaintiffs request to file an amended complaint.

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Bluebook (online)
51 P.3d 1256, 334 Or. 456, 2002 Ore. LEXIS 586, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffith-v-blatt-or-2002.