S-17-0800 Aimee Freeman (Appellant) v. Hoffman-Laroche, Inc. a Corporation and Roche Laboratories, Inc., a Corporation
Douglas County District Court, Judge Leigh Ann Retelsdorf
Attorneys: Jeffrey A. Silver (Appellant) --- Jill Vinjamuri Gettman (Gettman & Mills, LLP)
Civil: Products liability; motion in limine; summary judgment
Proceedings Below: The district court granted Appellee’s motion in limine and then granted Appellee’s motion for summary judgment.
Issues: The district court 1) abused its discretion when it went beyond its proper gatekeeping function and instead improperly determined the weight and credibility of Dr. Sachar’s testimony, 2) erred in precluding the testimony of Dr. Sachar when he was qualified to render his opinions and his opinions and testimony were based upon reasoning or methodology that is valid and can be applied to the facts in this case, 3) erred when it concluded that Dr. Sachar’s opinion that isotretinoin can cause Inflammatory Bowel Disease (“IBD”), including Crohn’s colitis, in humans was not reliable despite the fact that in arriving at his opinion he reviewed the relevant medical and scientific literature; identified numerous biological plausibilities to explain how Accutane could cause IBD; reviewed Roche’s internal documents regarding animal studies, clinical studies, adverse event reports, challenge/de-challenge/re-challenge data, and causality assessments; considered a dose-dependent relationship; examined the class effect of metabolites; and reviewed and analyzed the epidemiology studies that have been conducted, and 4) erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees on the issue of general causation when Dr. Sachar’s testimony, if properly accepted into evidence, would create an issue of fact on that issue.