Johnson & Johnson, Inc. v. Fortenberry

• Decision Date: 19 October 2017
• Docket Number: NO. 2015–CA–01369–SCT,2015–CA–01369–SCT
• Citation: 234 So.3d 381
• Parties: JOHNSON & JOHNSON, INC. and Ortho–McNeil–Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Brenda FORTENBERRY, as the Conservator of the Estate of Person of Louise Taylor
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

234 So.3d 381

JOHNSON & JOHNSON, INC. and Ortho–McNeil–Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

v.Brenda FORTENBERRY, as the Conservator of the Estate of Person of Louise Taylor

NO. 2015–CA–01369–SCT

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

October 19, 2017

Rehearing Denied February 1, 2018

TRIAL COURT ATTORNEYS: TIMOTHY W. PORTER, PATRICK MALOUF, JOHN TIMOTHY GIVENS, DANIEL J. McGLYNN, PAUL V. CASSISA, JR., ADAM JULIUS SPICER, DONNA BROWN JACOBS, JENNIFER A. HAWKS–BLAND, KIMBERLY NELSON HOWLAND, DAVID LOREN STRANGE, JR., CHRISTY D. JONES, CHAD ROBERTS HUTCHINSON

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANTS: KATHLEEN ELIZABETH CARRINGTON, DONNA BROWN JACOBS, PAUL V. CASSISA, JR., ADAM JULIUS SPICER, CHRISTY D. JONES

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: DAVID NEIL McCARTY, TIMOTHY W. PORTER, JOHN TIMOTHY GIVENS, PATRICK MALOUF

BEFORE RANDOLPH, P.J., COLEMAN AND MAXWELL, JJ.

COLEMAN, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. The subject of the present products liability lawsuit is Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration on December 29, 1993, as a safe and effective prescription drug for the management of the manifestation of psychotic disorders. We hold that, as a matter of law, the Risperdal in question contained an adequate warning; we reverse and render the statutory inadequate warning judgment. We further hold that, as more fully set forth below, various errors in the jury instructions require reversal of the plaintiff's verdict that sounded in negligent misrepresentation, and we reverse and remand the negligent misrepresentation claim. We also address other, nondispositive issues that might arise again upon retrial.

¶ 2. Louise Taylor began suffering psychotic episodes when she was seventy-one years old, in early 1998. From March 1998 to January 2001, Psychiatrist Richard Rhoden prescribed Risperdal to Taylor for the treatment of her recurrent psychotic manifestations. In February 2001, Taylor developed tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder caused by antipsychotic medications. Tardive dyskinesia is a syndrome of potentially irreversible, involuntary, dyskinetic movements in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs. Tardive dyskinesia is a type or subcategory of extrapyramidal symptoms, which is a general category of movement disorders that may result from neuroleptic exposure to antipsychotics.

¶ 3. On August 6, 2002, Taylor¹ filed a complaint against Ortho–McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer, seller, and distributer of Risperdal, and its parent company Johnson & Johnson (collectively "Janssen"), claiming that Risperdal caused her to develop tardive dyskinesia. Taylor also named her treating physician, Dr. Richard Rhoden, as a defendant in her complaint. Taylor settled her claims against Dr. Rhoden prior to trial. The case went to trial on November 7, 2014. On November 14, 2014, the jury, in a nine to three decision, found that Taylor was harmed by Risperdal due to: (1) Janssen's "failure to provide adequate warnings/instructions" and (2) Janssen's "negligent marketing/misrepresentation." The jury awarded Taylor $650,000 in actual economic damages and $1.3 million in noneconomic damages, for a total damages award of $1,950,000.

¶ 4. Janssen appeals, raising the following issues:

I. Is Janssen entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Taylor's failure-to-warn claim because there was no evidence of any alleged inadequacy in the Risperdal warning because Janssen warned of the risk of Tardive Dyskinesia ; and there was no evidence that any alleged inadequacy in the Risperdal warning proximately caused Taylor's Tardive Dyskinesia ?

II. Is Janssen entitled to judgment as a matter of law on Taylor's negligent misrepresentation claim because Taylor failed to offer proof that Taylor's prescribing physician, Dr. Rhoden, received any specific misrepresentation from Janssen, much less that Dr. Rhoden relied on any alleged misrepresentation in prescribing Risperdal to Taylor?

III. Is Janssen alternatively entitled to a new trial because the trial court's substantive jury instructions were improper?

IV. Is Janssen alternatively entitled to a new trial because economic damages should not have gone to the jury, as there was no proof connecting Taylor's Tardive Dyskinesia, the only condition allegedly caused by Risperdal, to the need for twenty-four-hour attendant care—the only economic damages Taylor sought?

V. Is Janssen alternatively entitled to a remittitur of the economic damage award because it is not supported by evidence?

VI. Is Janssen alternatively entitled to a new trial because Taylor's counsel used inflammatory, highly offensive, and improper argument during closing?

¶ 5. Taylor cross appeals, raising the following issue:

VII. Did the evidence warrant a punitive damages proceeding?

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 6. In early 1998, Taylor began suffering psychotic episodes featured by paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations. One morning, Taylor prevented her daughter Fortenberry from leaving their house to go to work by physically blocking the door because she believed there were people outside her house trying to do Fortenberry harm. Taylor believed what she saw and heard really was there despite Fortenberry's assurances otherwise. Due to the episode, Fortenberry took Taylor to a local physician, who referred Taylor to Charter Hospital, an inpatient behavioral health facility. Taylor was admitted to Charter Hospital and diagnosed with "severe depression with a single psychotic episode." While a patient at Charter Hospital, caregivers prescribed Taylor Haldol (generic: Haloperidol ), a "first generation" or "typical" antipsychotic medication. Taylor received treatment for a number of weeks at Charter Hospital, and on March 3, 1998, she was discharged and was referred to Dr. Rhoden for further treatment.

¶ 7. On March 23, 1998, Taylor first saw Dr. Rhoden. Dr. Rhoden continued Taylor's Haldol prescription for her previously existing psychosis. Dr. Rhoden did not observe Taylor exhibiting extrapyramidal symptoms during the visit. At the next visit, on June 4, 1998, Dr. Rhoden discontinued Haldol and prescribed Seroquel (generic: quetiapine ), a "second generation" or "atypical" antipsychotic medication. Dr. Rhoden explained that he changed medications because he believed Seroquel would help Taylor's insomnia. Dr. Rhoden also explained that Seroquel was "one of the newer types of [antipsychotics,]" and he "was trying to change people from the older type antipsychotics to the newer atypical type." Dr. Rhoden provided Taylor and Fortenberry with the material side effects of Seroquel. Dr. Rhoden testified that the material side effects he believed he would have discussed included "the different types of EPS which could be either temporary, or in some cases long term movement or pulling or different kinds of muscle abnormalities that could occur."

¶ 8. At the next visit on July 20, 1998, Dr. Rhoden continued the prescription for Seroquel and noted that Taylor "has a mouth twitch some since stopping Haldol [.]" On September 17, 1998, Dr. Rhoden noted that Taylor's "mouth twitching is better[.]" Dr. Rhoden also noted that Taylor was doing well with the current treatment and continued the prescription for Seroquel.

¶ 9. On November 19, 1998, Taylor was hospitalized at Hardy Wilson Memorial Hospital following an suicide attempt by taking sixty Seroquel pills and some Prozac pills, which also had been prescribed for her. Taylor was diagnosed with "major depression, recurrent with psychosis [.]" On December 10, 1998, Taylor was discharged with the need for constant supervision until her next appointment scheduled for December 15, 1998, with Region 8 Mental Health. Following the discharge, Fortenberry left her job to care for Taylor twenty-four hours a day because of Taylor's severe depression and psychosis.

¶ 10. On March 18, 1999, Taylor returned to Dr. Rhoden for her next visit. Dr. Rhoden recognized that Taylor "was on Seroquel and at some point, she was worse and had to be hospitalized[,]" so he discontinued the Seroquel. In an effort to "try something different[,]" Dr. Rhoden prescribed Risperdal (generic: risperidone ), a "second generation" or "atypical" antipsychotic, to Taylor. Dr. Rhoden first started Taylor on Risperdal at one to two milligrams at nine p.m. as directed. Dr. Rhoden's record confirmed that "side effects [were] given inc[luding] T.D. [and] EPS." Dr. Rhoden testified that he informed both Taylor and Fortenberry of the risk of tardive dyskinesia and extrapyramidal symptoms during the visit. Dr. Rhoden explained that he would have told Taylor and Fortenberry: "[R]emember that this medicine, as in all medicines in this class, can produce certain movement problems or pulling or muscle problems that can develop that can be short term. It can be treated, but sometimes they can't be; they can be long term."

¶ 11. Risperdal, along with all other antipsychotic medications on the market, were required to carry the Food and Drug Administration approved class label warning for tardive dyskinesia. The Food and Drug Administration utilizes a class label for the purpose of informing the physician that the medication carries the potential risk for the same particular adverse events as all the other medications in the same class. The pertinent portions of the Food and Drug Administration approved class label included in the Risperdal label during the time period that Dr. Rhoden prescribed Risperdal to Taylor provided:

RISPERDAL ™

(Risperidone tablets)

RISPERDAL ™ (risperidone ) is an antipsychotic agent belonging to a new chemical class, the benzisoxazole derivatives.

....

RISPERDAL ™ (risperidone ) is indicated for the management of the manifestations of psychotic disorders.

....

WARNINGS

Tardive Dyskinesia

A syndrome of potentially irreversible, involuntary, dyskinetic movements may develop in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs. Although the prevalence of the syndrome appears to be highest among the elderly, especially elderly women, it is

...