Breaking News – High Wattage Reasoning – Arizona Adopts Learned Intermediary

We've been following Watts v. Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. ever since the Arizona Court of Appeals issued its bizarre ruling that the learned intermediary doctrine ("LID"), which has been adopted in almost every state, was somehow incompatible with the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act ("UCATA"), which has been adopted in over half of the states - although no other jurisdiction following both ever thought so. Fortunately, the Arizona Supreme Court granted review, which we hoped would lead to the 37th state high court adoption of the LID.

We weren't disappointed.

Today, the Arizona Supreme Court brought Arizona into the ranks of the vast majority of states that follow the learned intermediary doctrine:

Although the court of appeals has embraced the LID, this Court has not yet addressed the doctrine. In our view, the Third Restatement properly states the LID, and therefore we adopt § 6(d) as our expression of it. Adopting the doctrine places us with the majority of jurisdictions that have considered the matter.

Contrary to [plaintiff's] assertion, the LID does not create a blanket immunity for pharmaceutical manufacturers. . . . [I]f the manufacturer fails to provide adequate warnings to the learned intermediary . . ., a patient could sue and directly recover from a drug manufacturer based on its failure to properly warn the prescribing physician.

[Plaintiff] also asserts, and the court of appeals agreed, that the underlying rationale for the LID is no longer viable. But we find persuasive the reasoning of the Texas Supreme Court in rejecting this argument.

Prescription drugs are likely to be complex medicines, esoteric in formula and varied in effect. As a medical expert, the prescribing physician can take into account the propensities of the drug, as well as the susceptibilities of his patient. His is the task of weighing the benefits of any medication against its potential dangers. The choice he makes is an informed one, an individualized medical judgment bottomed on a knowledge of both patient and palliative. Pharmaceutical companies then, who must warn ultimate purchasers of dangers inherent in patent drugs sold over the counter, in selling prescription drugs are required to warn only the prescribing physician, who acts as a "learned intermediary" between manufacturer and consumer. . . . Because patients can obtain prescription drugs only through their prescribing physician or another authorized intermediary and because the...