Forest Labs., LLC v. Feheley
Decision Date | 25 October 2019 |
Docket Number | 1180387 |
Citation | 296 So.3d 302 |
Parties | FOREST LABORATORIES, LLC v. Kevin J. FEHELEY, Sr., as administrator and personal representative of the Estate of Sheila Clay Joubran, deceased, and as guardian and conservator of Kevin J. Feheley, Jr., an incapacitated person |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Thomas E. Walker of White Arnold & Dowd, P.C., Birmingham; and Linda E. Maichl, John R. Ipsaro, and Jeffrey F. Peck of Ulmer & Berne, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio, for appellant.
Thomas J. Knight of Hubbard & Knight, Anniston; and George D. Robinson of Robinson Law Firm, LLC, Anniston, for appellee.
Forest Laboratories, LLC ("Forest"), filed a permissive appeal pursuant to Rule 5, Ala. R. App. P., from the Calhoun Circuit Court's order denying Forest's motion for a summary judgment. We reverse and remand.
Lexapro is the brand name of a prescription drug used to treat depression. It appears that Forest manufactured and marketed Lexapro and that Forest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("FPI"), sold and distributed Lexapro. Escitalopram is the generic form of Lexapro.
On December 29, 2015, Elias Joubran's physician prescribed Lexapro for Elias's depression. Elias's prescription was filled with generic escitalopram that was manufactured and sold by a company other than Forest. On December 30, 2015, Elias entered the house belonging to him and his wife, Sheila Clay Joubran; he shot and killed Sheila and then shot and killed himself.1
On July 13, 2017, Kevin J. Feheley, Sr., as administrator and personal representative of Sheila's estate and as guardian and conservator of Kevin J. Feheley, Jr., an incapacitated person,2 filed suit in the Calhoun Circuit Court against Mary Joubran, in her capacity as the personal representative of Elias's estate, Forest, FPI, and fictitiously named defendants. The complaint alleged that, at the time of the murder/suicide, Elias "was under prescription for, and was ingesting, under certain physicians' prescription, certain pharmaceuticals, including those pharmaceuticals manufactured by the defendants as described more particularly herein." The complaint went on to allege that "Forest's Lexapro [ ] enhanced, enabled and aggravated [Elias's] depression and violent behaviors." The complaint alleged, in part:
"Defendants [FPI] and [Forest] (collectively hereinafter, ‘Forest’) were severally, the marketer, promoter, seller, manufacturer, distributor, and entity which did manufacture, create, design, test, label, package, distribute, market, sell, advertise, fail to warn, and otherwise handle and distribute in commerce, the products, Lexapro 10 mg tablets."
After including extensive allegations regarding Forest's marketing activities, Feheley alleged:
It further alleged:
The complaint asserted various claims against Forest, including various products-liability claims, negligence and wantonness claims, breach-of-express- and implied-warranty claims, and a civil-conspiracy claim. Count II alleged a claim of "Product Liability (Failure to Warn)":
Count VII alleged claims of misrepresentation, fraud, suppression, and deceit:
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