Grundberg v. Upjohn Co.
Utah Supreme Court
813 P.2d 89 (1991)
- Written by Brian Meadors, JD
Facts
Ilo Marie Grundberg (plaintiff) was taking medications for chronic depression and anxiety. One of the medicines was Halcion, generically known as triazolam, and was made by Upjohn Co. (defendant). One night, Grundberg took valium, codeine, and Halcion, and thereafter Grundberg shot and killed her mother. Grundberg was charged with criminal homicide, but based on her psychiatrist’s report, the prosecutor dropped the charges. Grundberg sued Upjohn in federal court, alleging that Halcion was the cause of Grundberg’s behavior. In its defense, Upjohn cited Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A, comment k, which exempts unavoidably unsafe products from certain products-liability suits. Because Halcion had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Upjohn argued that normal, prescribed use of Halcion was exempted under comment k. Utah courts had not previously determined whether comment k was applicable; the federal court certified the question to the Utah Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Durham, J.)
Dissent (Stewart, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
