The Price Of Generality: Certification Denied

A Significant Win for a Pharmaceutical Company in a Product Liability Class Action

Contrary to popular belief, certification is not always granted in pharmaceutical product liability class actions. Once again,¹ the defendants have prevailed in the significant decision recently released by the Honourable Justice Glustein: Price v. H. Lundbeck A/S et al., 2022 ONSC 7160 ("Price").²

The decision is an excellent precedent for defendants in product liability class actions facing allegations of a failure to warn their consumers about alleged harms that their products might cause. Price holds that manufacturers have a duty to warn about specific risks, not generalized and unidentified risks of harm - so if a "failure to warn" common issue proposed by a plaintiff is too general, the answer will not advance the litigation for the class and the class action cannot be certified. The decision also affirms that defendants can defeat certification in pharmaceutical product