We write a lot about the learned intermediary rule. It’s a fundamental aspect of the defense of drug and device cases, it’s grounded in the realities of the physician-patient relationship, and it tends to produce a lot of cases worth blogging about. We also refer to it as a rule (e.g., here, here, here, and here), rather than a doctrine, because that’s what it is. We particularly like it when courts dismiss warnings claims based on the learned intermediary rule at the pleadings stage. Today’s case is one of those. Plaintiff filed a shoddy complaint, was able to amend in response to an initial motion to dismiss, and then saw his warnings claims dismissed with prejudice under Alabama’s learned intermediary rule.
In McCrackin v. Rex Medical L.P., 2026 WL 66797 (N.D. Ala. Jan. 8, 2026), the plaintiff alleged he received an Option retrievable IVC filter in 2012. Twelve years later, he allegedly suffered complications when a “leg” from the filter fractured and penetrated a vein, with the further allegation that his spine grew around the fractured leg. He sued based on allegations that the device was marketed as permanent when it should have been temporary, and that there were not adequate warnings about the risk of “tilt, fracture, migration and/or perforation.” Id. at *1. Plaintiff previously obtained leave to file an amended complaint in response to an initial motion to dismiss, so this was his second bite at the apple. The defendant who marketed and distributed the device moved to dismiss.
