Shook Team Obtains Third Win This Year for Pharmacia

A Shook team obtained their third win in a year for Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. LLC (Pharmacia), the maker of the corticosteroid drug Depo-Medrol® (methylprednisone acetate). Partners Jennise Stubbs, Paul La Scala and Associate Sonila Themeli represent Pharmacia.

A California state court granted Pharmacia’s motion for summary judgment after finding the plaintiff’s personal injury claims for strict liability, negligence and loss of consortium were barred by the statute of limitations. Previously, a federal court in New Jersey granted Pharmacia’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and earlier, a Texas state court granted a motion for summary judgment on an estate’s claims that pain caused by an off-label injection of Depo-Medrol® caused the decedent to take his own life. The court applied Texas’ learned intermediary doctrine and found that the prescribing physician—an experienced pain management provider—had been adequately warned of the possible risks of the drug, dismissing all pending claims against Pharmacia.

Beene v. Brazill, No. S1500CV281269 (Cal. Super. Ct. 2018); Sich v. Pfizer Pharmaceutical, No. 17-2828 (D.N.J. 2017); and Abualsundos v. Le, No. 2014-63578 (Tex. Dist. Ct. 2017).