Schering Corp. v. Superior Court

In Schering Corp. v. Superior Court (1975) 52 Cal.App.3d 737, the real party in interest filed an action for negligence and products liability alleging injury from the use of the drugs "Feminone," and "Pro-estrin." The complaint named as defendants a doctor and two corporations as manufacturers and suppliers of the drugs, but not petitioner which was a foreign corporation supplying drugs for wholesalers. In addition, the pleading designated "Doe I" as a physician licensed to practice in California and "Does II and III" as manufacturers and suppliers of the drugs. The summons was served upon Horsley, a representative of Schering, who was not authorized to accept service of process and the summons stated that "you are served on behalf of Doe I." Since there was no indication on the summons that Horsley was served on behalf of Schering and/or under section 416.10 and since "Doe I" clearly meant a physician licensed to practice medicine in California, not a supplier, the summons not only failed to show on its face that Horsley was served as representative of Schering, but was outright misleading. Under those circumstances, the court properly held that the plaintiff failed to prove substantial compliance with section 412.30 and that as a result the court did not obtain jurisdiction over petitioner, a supplier of drugs.