Learned intermediary

Reimagining the learned intermediary rule for the new pharmaceutical marketplace.

For the past decade, the learned intermediary rule--the rule of tort law that provides that drug manufacturers may satisfy their duty to warn of a drug's dangers by warning the prescribing physician rather than the end user of the drug--has been the subject of vigorous academic debate. That debate has been largely moot, however, as the courts have proven reluctant to make significant inroads on...

The learned intermediary doctrine and its effects on prescribing physicians.

BUMC PROCEEDINGS 2003;16:359–361 Over the past 13 years, one constant in the field of health care liability claims has been litigation over medical devices and products. The 1990s began with the silicone gel breast implant litigation. The balance of the 1990s was devoted to litigation on Norplant and the diet drug combination fenfluramine-phentermine (fen-phen); these cases are still ongoing. T...

Direct-to-consumer advertising and the learned intermediary.

Unlabeled drug samples and the learned intermediary: the case for drug company liability without preemption.

Intermediary Influence

Ronald Coase and others writing in his wake typically assume that institutional arrangements evolve to minimize transaction costs. This Article draws attention to a powerful, market-based force that operates contrary to that core assumption: “intermediary influence.” The claim builds on three observations: (1) many transaction costs now take the form of fees paid to specialized intermediaries, ...