In Nogueira v. O. Alasaly Pharmacy Ltd.,1
the British Columbia Supreme Court found the defendant pharmacy
liable to the plaintiff who had suffered a severe burn from a
medicated patch she bought to treat muscle pain. This case serves
as a reminder to retailers that they can still be found liable,
even where the specific cause of the defect is not proven, and even
though the plaintiff may not have a strong case against the
distributor and/or the manufacturer. It also illustrates that a
retailer can be found liable even where there are no other recorded
complaints for a product that has been purchased several million
times.
The plaintiff had muscle soreness in her left thigh and
purchased a box of analgesic patches at the defendant pharmacy,
which had been distributed by Sanofi Consumer Health Inc.
("Sanofi"). The patches were intended to provide a
cooling and heating therapy for muscle pain. The Court noted that
the plaintiff read the instructions on the box and that
