Justia Drugs & Biotech Opinion Summaries

The case involves Early Willard Woodmore, III, who was convicted for his role in a methamphetamine distribution enterprise in eastern Oklahoma. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began investigating the Woodmore organization in 2018 after receiving a tip about methamphetamine shipments. Early Woodmore, along with his siblings Calvin and Amber, led the organization. They received methamphetamine from Kimberly Noel in California, who shipped the drugs concealed in everyday objects. The organization distributed the drugs in smaller quantities throughout eastern Oklahoma. Early Woodmore was arrested in April 2019 and continued to communicate with his sister Amber, who took over operations. The DEA intercepted a significant methamphetamine shipment in August 2019, leading to further charges.The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma indicted Early Woodmore on five counts, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and money laundering. He proceeded to a joint trial with his brother Calvin in April 2022. The jury convicted Early Woodmore on all counts, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the drug charges and 240 months for the money laundering charges, to run concurrently.The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reviewed the case. Early Woodmore raised three main challenges: judicial bias due to the district court's handling of a custody dispute during the trial, an erroneous jury instruction regarding the right of attorneys to interview witnesses, and the lack of a definitional instruction for "methamphetamine (actual)." The Tenth Circuit rejected all three challenges. The court found no judicial bias, upheld the jury instruction on attorney interviews, and determined that the term "methamphetamine (actual)" was sufficiently clear based on the evidence presented at trial. Consequently, the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment of conviction. View "United States v. Woodmore" on Justia Law

The Cervenys sued the manufacturer of Clomid (Aventis, Inc.), asserting various tort claims under Utah law: failure to warn under theories of strict liability and negligence, breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud. They presented two theories, pointing to two types of warning labels that Aventis had allegedly failed to provide: (1) a label that warned of risks to the fetus when a woman takes Clomid before becoming pregnant; and (2) a label that unmistakably warned about harm to the fetus when Clomid is taken during pregnancy. The district court rejected the Cervenys’ claims based on preemption. The Tenth Circuit held that the district court ruling was correct on the Cervenys’ first theory, because the undisputed evidence showed that the FDA would not have approved a warning about taking Clomid before pregnancy. But on the second theory, the Tenth Circuit found the district court did not explain why a state claim based on the FDA’s own proposed language would be preempted by federal law. The district court also erred in failing to distinguish the remaining claims (breach of implied warranty, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud) from the failure-to-warn claims. These claims are based at least partly on affirmative misrepresentations rather than on a failure to provide a warning. The district court failed to explain why claims involving affirmative misrepresentations would have been preempted. View "Cerveny v. Aventis, Inc." on Justia Law