Charles Thurston v. Merck & Company, Incorporated

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Charles Thurston v. Merck & Company, Incorporated, 415 F. App'x 585 (5th Cir. 2011)

Charles Thurston v. Merck & Company, Incorporated

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Charles Thurston appeals the dismissal of his complaint alleging he suffered muscle damage from the cholesterol-reducing drug Zocor. He says he learned that his injuries were possible side effects of the drug from various websites and that, had he known of these possible side effects in advance, he would not have taken the drug. He has not pointed to any medical evidence confirming his alleged injuries or connecting them to his use of the drug.

*586 Even if Thurston could show he was injured by Zocor, the district court correctly dismissed Thurston’s complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The FDA-approved warning label for Zo-cor lists both “myopathy” (muscle damage) and “rhabdomyolysis” (a form of myopathy affecting skeletal muscle tissue) as known side effects. Thurston’s failure-to-warn claim fails because Texas law provides that an FDA-approved warning label is presumed to be an adequate warning, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code § 82.007(a), unless the plaintiff can satisfy one of five enumerated exceptions, id. § 82.007(b). Thur-ston’s complaint does not plead facts sufficient to meet any of the exceptions.

AFFIRMED.

*

Pursuant to 5th Cir. R. 47.5, the court has determined that this opinion should not be published and is not precedent except under the limited circumstances set forth in 5th Cir. R. 47.5.4.

Reference

Full Case Name
Charles THURSTON, Plaintiff-Appellant v. MERCK AND COMPANY INC., Defendant-Appellee
Cited By
3 cases
Status
Unpublished