A state appeals court tossed a $25 million verdict against Hoffmann-La Roche in a suit over acne drug Accutane after finding that the trial judge improperly restricted duplicative testimony from two defense experts.
On Tuesday the panel ordered a new trial for Andrew McCarrell, who developed inflammatory bowel disease and had to have his bowel and colon surgically removed as a result of using Accutane. During McCarrell’s 2010 trial, Roche sought to present overlapping opinions from an epidemiologist and a gastroenterologist on the merits of certain studies, but the late Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee, who was presiding, told counsel she would not allow testimony from multiple experts with similar opinions, and only testimony from the gastroenterologist was presented.
