Anti-Nausea Patch Lawsuit Heads to Trial
An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that a suit against makers of an anti-nausea patch may go to trial, despite statements by a 51-year-old Orange woman that she did not read the package insert warning of potential side effects.
Judge Donald E. Smallwood said statements made by Claudine Ramsey during pretrial depositions came “extremely close” to persuading him to dismiss the suit against CIBA Consumer Pharmaceuticals.
Ramsey also testified that had she read the warning material before applying the patch, Transderm Scop, in 1990, she would not have used it. She alleges that as a result of using the patch she suffered a variety of reactions, including psychosis which lasted for two years and caused her to lose her job as a hotel marketer.
CIBA’s attorneys have argued that some of the symptoms she complained of--including dry mouth, elevated pulse, dizziness, shortness of breath and hyperventilation--are described in the package insert as possible reactions to the patch’s active ingredient, scopolamine. Based on Ramsey’s admission that she did not read the insert, CIBA’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the suit.
No trial date has been set for the suit.
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