Demuth Development Corp. v. Merck & Co., Inc.

NEAHER, District Judge.

This action asserts the novel claim that the publisher of an encyclopedia of chemicals and drugs is liable in damages for allegedly misrepresenting the toxicity of a chemical utilized in plaintiff’s product, thereby causing a loss of plaintiff’s customers and business. On defendant’s prior motion to dismiss the complaint, the court ruled that plaintiff had not stated a claim for relief on grounds of product defamation, since neither plaintiff nor its product had been mentioned in the alleged defamatory reference. 1 The court then declined to dismiss plaintiff’s two…