Canadian Court Strikes Plaintiffs' Expert Evidence, Denies Certification Of Pharmaceutical Class Action

The Canadian Legal Information Institute recently published an overlooked but important class action decision of the Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench (Court) in Graham et al. v. Hoffmann-La Roche Limited et al. (Graham). The Court struck the plaintiffs' expert opinion on the alleged link between a well-known medicine for severe acne (Medicine) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The Court also refused to certify the proposed national class action.

The authors, Gord McKee, Catherine Beagan Flood and Daniel Szirmak, represented the brand manufacturer defendant at the hearing together with local counsel (now a judge of the Court).

Reasons for Striking Expert Evidence

The plaintiffs served and relied on an expert report of a gastroenterologist in support of their application for certification of the proposed class action. Specifically, they relied on that report as some basis in fact for a causation common issue that underpinned all other common issues. The