Rodman v. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedMay 18, 2020
Docket3:18-cv-03732
StatusUnknown

This text of Rodman v. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (Rodman v. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodman v. Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Opinion

1 2 3 4 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 5 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 6 7 INA ANN RODMAN, Case No. 18-cv-03732-WHO

8 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY 9 v. JUDGMENT

10 OTSUKA AMERICA Re: Dkt. No. 65, 66, 67, 68 PHARMACEUTICAL, INC., 11 Defendant. 12

13 In this product liability suit, plaintiff Ina Rodman alleges that she suffers from a movement 14 disorder known as Tardive Dyskinesia (“TD”) as a result of ingesting the prescription 15 antipsychotic medication Abilify. She brings failure to warn and design defect claims against 16 defendant Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (“Otsuka”). Before me are cross-motions for 17 summary judgment on the failure to warn claim, along with Otsuka’s motion for summary 18 judgment on the design defect claim. Both parties also move to exclude portions of expert 19 testimony. 20 Rodman’s case founders on a lack of proof. For the reasons set forth below, I GRANT 21 summary judgment in favor of Otsuka on all three theories of Rodman’s failure to warn claim, as 22 well as her design default claim. Along the way, I GRANT Otsuka’s motion to exclude Dr. Laura 23 M. Plunkett’s expert testimony on label inadequacy and DENY the remainder of its motion as 24 moot. And I DENY Rodman’s motion for partial summary judgment on her failure to warn claim 25 and DENY as moot her motion to exclude portions of Dr. Sara J. Polfliet’s and Dr. Christoph U. 26 Correll’s expert testimony. 27 BACKGROUND 1 was first approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for the treatment 2 of schizophrenia. See Corrected Declaration of Matthew M. Saxon in Support of Defendant’s 3 Motion for Summary Judgment (“Saxon Decl. ISO MSJ”) [Dkt. No. 73-2] ¶ 3 & Ex. B (2002 4 Abilify Label). It has since been approved by the FDA to treat several other mental health 5 conditions, including bipolar disorder and Major Depressive Disorder (“MDD”). See id. ¶ 4 & Ex. 6 C (2009 Abilify Label at 1). Since the medication was first marketed, the Abilify label has 7 included the following warning about the risks of TD: 8 5.4 Tardive Dyskinesia 9 A syndrome of potentially irreversible, involuntary, dyskinetic movements may 10 develop in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs. Although the prevalence of the 11 syndrome appears to be highest among the elderly, especially elderly women, it is 12 impossible to rely upon prevalence estimates to predict, at the inception of antipsychotic 13 treatment, which patients are likely to develop the syndrome. Whether antipsychotic drug 14 products differ in their potential to cause tardive dyskinesia is unknown. 15 The risk of developing tardive dyskinesia and the likelihood that it will become 16 irreversible are believed to increase as the duration of treatment and the total cumulative 17 dose of antipsychotic drugs administered to the patient increase. However, the syndrome 18 can develop, although much less commonly, after relatively brief treatment periods at low 19 doses. 20 There is no known treatment for established cases of tardive dyskinesia, although 21 the syndrome may remit, partially or completely, if antipsychotic treatment is withdrawn. 22 Antipsychotic treatment, itself, however, may suppress (or partially suppress) the signs and 23 symptoms of the syndrome and, thereby, may possibly mask the underlying process. The 24 effect that symptomatic suppression has upon the long-term course of the syndrome is 25 unknown. 26 Given these considerations, ABILIFY should be prescribed in a manner that is most 27 likely to minimize the occurrence of tardive dyskinesia. Chronic antipsychotic treatment 1 that (1) is known to respond to antipsychotic drugs and (2) for whom alternative, equally 2 effective, but potentially less harmful treatments are not available or appropriate. In 3 patients who do require chronic treatment, the smallest dose and the shortest duration of 4 treatment producing a satisfactory clinical response should be sought. The need for 5 continued treatment should be reassessed periodically. 6 If signs and symptoms of tardive dyskinesia appear in a patient on ABILIFY, drug 7 discontinuation should be considered. However, some patients may require treatment with 8 ABILIFY despite the presence of the syndrome. 9 Id., Ex. B (2002 Abilify Label at 8-9); see also Ex. C (2009 Abilify Label at 17-18). 10 In 2010, Rodman’s prescribing physician and psychiatrist, Dr. John Hawkins, diagnosed 11 Rodman with MDD and prescribed her Abilify. Id., Ex. A, (Hawkins Dep. at 157:3-24) and Ex. 12 H, (Rodman Medical Records at 28, 32). In June 2015, after a change in medical insurance, 13 Rodman emailed Dr. Hawkins explaining that Abilify has become “quite expensive” and asking 14 for instructions about how best to discontinue the medication. Id., Ex. H (Rodman Medical 15 Records at 334). Dr. Hawkins replied with instructions for weaning her off Abilify and told her to 16 monitor her mood as she did. Id. He also instructed her to “be sure to follow-up with a new 17 psychiatrist under you[r] new medical coverage.” Id. 18 On March 30, 2016, a doctor at the University of Florida diagnosed Rodman with 19 “dyskinesia of the tongue.” Id., Ex. J (Rodman Dental Records at 9). On May 19, 2016, she 20 began seeing a neurologist, Dr. Anette Nieves, who treated her TD symptoms. Id., Ex. F (Nieves 21 Dep. at 47:11-48:23). 22 In the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) [Dkt. No. 28], Rodman alleges three theories 23 with regard to failure to warn: (i) the Abilify label “did not accurately reflect the incidence and 24 risk of developed [TD]” with the use of Abilify (FAC ¶¶ 26, 30); (ii) the Abilify label “failed to 25 specifically discuss the fact that [TD] had been reported in patients taking Abilify, including those 26 taking lower doses for depression” (FAC ¶ 25); and (iii) the label failed to “provide[] a discussion 27 or instruction regarding specific methods for screening patient for [TD], such as AIMS (Abnormal 1 FAC ¶¶ 34-35.1 2 On March 2, 2020, Rodman filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the failure to 3 warn claim and motion to exclude or limit the expert reports of Dr. Polfliet and Dr. Correll. See 4 Plaintiff’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (“Rodman Partial SJ”) [Dkt. No. 66]; Plaintiff’s 5 Motion to Exclude Duplicative Expert Testimony and Motion to Exclude Inadmissible Expert 6 Testimony (“Rodman Mot. Exclude”) [Dkt. No. 65]. On the same day, Otsuka filed its motion for 7 summary judgment on both the failure to warn and design defect claims and a motion to exclude 8 the expert report of Dr. Plunkett. See Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (“Otsuka 9 MSJ”) [Dkt. No. 67]; Defendant’s Motion to Exclude Testimony of Laura M. Plunkett (“Otsuka 10 Mot. Exclude”) [Dkt. No. 68].2 On May 6, 2020, I heard argument from the parties. 11 LEGAL STANDARD 12 I. MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 13 Summary judgment on a claim or defense is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is 14 no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of 15 law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). In order to prevail, a party moving for summary judgment must show 16 the absence of a genuine issue of material fact with respect to an essential element of the non- 17 moving party’s claim, or to a defense on which the non-moving party will bear the burden of 18 persuasion at trial. See Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). Once the movant has 19 made this showing, the burden then shifts to the party opposing summary judgment to identify 20 “specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial.” Id.

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