Just the Facts
Procedural Posture
402A Comment k
Fun with Precedent
100

The name of the Fusemeier prescription drug prescribed to Whiteberry

What is Targetall?

100

The two grounds on which Whiteberry filed suit in the 555th Judicial District Court.

What are strict liability and negligence?

100

The approach Fusemeier Pharmaecutical Company wants the Supreme Court of Texas to adopt as to comment k in this case.

What is the blanket approach?

100

The party advocating that the Supreme Court of Texas should follow precedent from federal district courts in Texas.

Who is Fusemeier?

200

Whiteberry suffered acute injury to this body part, which is a known side effect of Targetall.

What is the kidney?

200

The motion Fusemeier filed at the district court level which underlies the current appeal.

What is a motion for summary judgment?

200

The approach Whiteberry wants the Supreme Court of Texas to adopt as to comment k in this case.

What is the case-by-case approach?

200

This federal district court case and its progeny assert that, under Texas law, makers of all prescription drugs that acquire FDA approval have blanket immunity from design defect liability.  (Fusemeier likes this case.)

What is Hackett v. G.D. Searle & Co.?

300

The more expensive to produce between Targetall and Targetall-NEXT

What is Targetall-NEXT?

300

The prevailing party at both the district court and court of appeals level.

What is Fusemeier Pharmaceutical Company?

300

Comment k immunizes companies from claims for this type of defect.

What is a design defect?

300

This is probably Whiteberry's favorite case from the Texas Supreme Court.

What is Crocker v. Winthrop Labs?

400

Targetall is this sort of compound, meaning it has equal amounts of two different types of enantiomers.

What is a racemic compound?

400

The standard of appellate review the Supreme Court of Texas will apply in this case.

What is de novo review?

400

The three types of strict products liability claims (only one type of which was asserted by Whiteberry in this case).

What are defective design, defective manufacturing, and defective warning/labeling?

400

While Whiteberry may not like a lot of what federal district courts in Texas have said about comment k, he is just fine with the Eastern District's opinions in this case.  

What is Romero v. Wyeth LLC (Romero I and Romero II)?

500

The chemical difference between Targetall and Targetall-NEXT is that Targetall-NEXT is made of the pure ____ form of antafistine.

What is dextro?

500

This is the procedural consequence if Whiteberry prevails at the Texas Supreme Court.

What is remanding to the trial court for further proceedings?

500

On a case-by-case approach, comment k only bars design defect claims against FDA-approved prescription drugs that meet this threshold showing.

What is that they are unavoidably unsafe?  (i.e. no feasible safer alternative)

500

The Fifth Circuit's 2018 decision in In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. is noted in the dissenting opinion for this reason.

What is the Court indicated that comment k's effect is still an open issue in Texas (and suggested that Hackett and its progeny lacked basis in Texas state law)?