F. HOFFMAN-LA ROCHE, LTD. v. Superior Court

When Steven Wertheimer was 14 years old, he committed suicide by throwing himself in front of an oncoming Caltrain after undergoing a six-month course of Accutane—a drug prescribed for the treatment of cystic acne. In a products liability survivor action that followed, Steven’s parents, Barry and Laurie Marks Wertheimer, alleged that side effects of Accutane include depression, psychosis, and suicidality, and that these effects had caused Steven’s death. Wertheimers named six “Roche Group” pharmaceutical companies as defendants in the action, including Swiss defendants Roche Holding Ltd. (Roche Holding) and E Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. (E Hoffman), and two U.S. Roche companies that are domiciled in New Jersey.

In this statutory writ proceeding, the Swiss defendants challenge the trial court’s exercise of in personam jurisdiction over them. They contend that because Roche Holding is simply a passive parent holding company that invests in pharmaceutical companies, and because E Hoffman only sells the active ingredient in Accutane in Switzerland to the domestic U.S. Roche affiliates that manufacture and sell the drug here, the trial court’s exercise of jurisdiction over them was…