Lippman v. Ethicon Inc., A-4318-10T2; Appellate Division; opinion by Fuentes, P.J.A.D.; decided and approved for publication September 4, 2013. Before Judges Fuentes, Harris and Koblitz. On appeal from the Law Division, Middlesex County, L-9025-06. DDS No. 25-2-1221 [51 pp.]
Plaintiff Joel Lippman, M.D., began his association with defendants in 1990 as director of medical services for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson Inc. He had direct responsibility over product quality and safety. He received a number of promotions and in 2000, he joined defendant Ethicon Inc., another J&J subsidiary, as vice president of medical affairs. In this position he served on a number of internal review boards, including the quality board, an autonomous, deliberative forum, where professionals could freely and openly discuss how best to address serious questions concerning the safety of pharmaceutical and medical products.
