60 Food and Drug Law Journal 453-458 (2005).
In June 2005, the California Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District, comprising the county of Santa Clara in the Silicon Valley, held that a trial court cannot exercise personal jurisdiction over a defendant pharmaceutical company based "solely on the global exchange and management of medical and scientific information relative to drug safety and regulatory compliance." As a result of this holding, the foreign pharmaceutical companies in this case were dismissed as defendants from this action and could not be held liable to the plaintiffs, in the event of any verdict or settlement. This article discusses this decision's crucial and significant implications for international pharmaceutical companies with affiliates or related entities in California, and potentially other states that have yet to embrace this standard.