Gottsdanker v. Cutter Laboratories

Cutter Laboratories (defendant) manufactured a polio vaccine that Dr. Jonas Salk had developed. Although Salk’s vaccine was intended to include inactivated strains of poliomyelitis virus, the vaccine manufactured by Cutter contained live and active poliomyelitis virus. Two children, including Anne Gottsdanker, contracted poliomyelitis after being injected with Cutter’s vaccine. The vaccines were administered by a doctor who had purchased the vaccines from a pharmacy. The vaccine containers included a printed statement of directions indicating that the vaccine had been prepared in accordance with federal requirements, that the poliomyelitis virus in the vaccine had been inactivated with formaldehyde, and that negative reactions to the vaccine had been minimal. The children’s parents (plaintiffs) sued Cutter on the children’s behalf in California state court, asserting claims for breach of the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness (i.e., warranties that the vaccine was pure and wholesome). The children’s parents argued that the vaccine had caused the children to become infected with the disease that the vaccine was designed to prevent. At trial, a jury found in the parents’ favor and awarded damages. Cutter appealed, asserting that (1) Cutter could not be held liable because Cutter had not directly sold the vaccines to the children, (2) the printed directions that accompanied the vaccine created an express warranty regarding the vaccine that eliminated the creation of any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, and (3) public policy favored denying recovery for breach of warranty because allowing such claims would hinder the development of new and beneficial drugs.