Justia Drugs & Biotech Opinion Summaries

Nashaun Drake pleaded guilty to several drug offenses after police found significant quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, and drug trafficking tools in his apartment. He was charged with five counts of possessing illegal drugs with intent to distribute. At sentencing, the district court classified Drake as a "career offender" based on a prior marijuana conviction, resulting in a 200-month prison sentence.The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio determined that Drake's prior marijuana conviction qualified as a predicate offense for the career-offender enhancement under the Sentencing Guidelines. This classification led to a sentencing range of 188 to 235 months, and the court imposed a 200-month sentence.The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reviewed the case. Drake argued that his prior marijuana conviction should not have triggered the career-offender enhancement and that his sentence was unreasonable. The court held that binding precedent required the use of a time-of-conviction approach to determine whether a prior offense qualifies as a "controlled substance offense" under the Sentencing Guidelines. Since hemp was included in the drug schedules at the time of Drake's 2016 conviction, his marijuana offense qualified as a controlled substance offense. The court also found that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a 200-month sentence, considering Drake's extensive criminal history and the need for deterrence and public protection.The Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision, upholding both the career-offender enhancement and the 200-month sentence. View "United States v. Drake" on Justia Law

In the 1990s, Stryker purchased a Pfizer subsidiary that made orthopedic products, including the “Uni-knee” artificial joint. It was later discovered that those devices were sterilized using gamma rays, which caused polyethylene to degrade. If implanted past their five-year shelf-life, the knees could fail. Expired Uni-Knees were implanted in patients. Stryker, facing individual product-liability claims and potentially liable to Pfizer, sought defense and indemnification under a $15 million XL “commercial umbrella” policy, and a TIG “excess liability” policy that kicked in after the umbrella policy was fully “exhausted.” XL denied coverage, arguing that the Uni-Knee claims were “known or suspected” before the inception of the policy. Stryker filed lawsuits against the insurers, then unilaterally settled its individual product-liability claims for $7.6 million. Stryker was adjudicated liable to Pfizer for $17.7 million. About 10 years later, the Sixth Circuit held that XL was obliged to provide coverage. XL paid out the Pfizer judgment first, exhausting coverage limits. TIG declined to pay the remaining $7.6 million, arguing that Stryker failed to obtain “written consent” at the time the settlements were made. Stryker claimed that the policy was latently ambiguous because XL satisfied the Pfizer judgment first, Stryker was forced to present its settlements to TIG years after they were made. The district court granted Stryker summary judgment. The Sixth Circuit reversed, finding the contract unambiguous in requiring consent. View "Stryker Corp. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co." on Justia Law

In 2004, Yates, 17 years old, was sexually active and was suffering from severe menstrual cramps. Smith, a licensed physician assistant, counseled Yates about various contraceptives, and the risks and benefits accompanying each. Yates admits that she was counseled concerning the risk of a stroke and clotting associated with ORTHO EVRA®. She decided to try Depo-Provera, which requires injections at three-month intervals. In 2005 she discontinued Depo-Provera due to weight gain and switched to the ORTHO EVRA® patch. Smith again discussed side effects. Yates admitted that she would have used ORTHO EVRA® even if she had read package warnings. Yates suffered a stroke while she was wearing her first weekly patch. A board-certified neurologist and neurophysiologist opined that Yates’s “use of the Ortho-Evra patch was the contributing cause of her stroke.” Smith’s suit was transferred for consolidated pretrial proceedings in connection with In re: Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation. The district court dismissed her claims. The Sixth Circuit affirmed. The ORTHO EVRA® warnings in effect when Yates was prescribed the patch adequately warned her prescribing medical provider of the risk of stroke; there was no duty to directly warn Yates. The court rejected design defect, manufacturing defect, and negligence claims. View "Yates v. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharma., Inc." on Justia Law