7th Circuit Tosses $3M Verdict in Suit Blaming Antidepressant Labeling for Biglaw Partner’s Suicide
The ABA Journal reports that a federal appeals court has overturned a $3 million award to the widow of a Reed Smith partner who blamed antidepressant labeling for her husband’s suicide.
“The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday against the widow, Wendy Dolin, in an appeal by GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of the antidepressant Paxil. Dolin’s husband, Reed Smith partner Stewart Dolin, was taking paroxetine, a generic version of Paxil, when he committed suicide in 2010,” writes reporter Debra Cassens Weiss.
Dolin’s widow had maintained the drug labels should have warned of an increased suicide risk, but the court found that the wording on the drug labels was mandated by the Food and Drug Administration, and Dolin’s labeling claim under Illinois law was pre-empted by federal law.
GSK countered that Stewart Dolin committed suicide because of job concerns. He had been a partner at Sachnoff & Weaver before it was acquired by Reed Smith in 2007. He was named chair of Reed Smith’s corporate and securities group, before becoming co-chair along with another lawyer in 2010, the ABA Journal reports.
