Abrams v. Life Medical Technologies, Inc.

135 F. Supp. 3d 185, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131789, 2015 WL 5724801
District Court, S.D. New York·Decided September 29, 2015·No. No. 14 Civ. 3464·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OPINION

TOMAS P. GRIESA, District Judge.

This case arises from the failure of Life Medical Technologies, Inc., a medical devices company. Plaintiffs, a large group of investors who lost money in Life Medical shares, allege that defendants secured plaintiffs’ investments through fraud and badly mismanaged the company. They bring federal securities fraud claims, as well as claims for breach of fiduciary duty, common law fraud, negligent misrepresentation, negligence, and unjust enrichment. Defendants, Life Medical and affiliated persons, move to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and 9(b), and the Private Securities5 Litigation Reform Act (“PSLRA”), 15 U.S.C. § 78u-4(b). Those motions are now before the court. •

The motions are granted in part and denied in part.

Procedural History

Plaintiffs in this case filed an amended complaint (“the complaint”) on October 9, ■2014. On November 24, 2014, defendant Life Medical moved to dismiss. On the same date, defendants Kelly and Lierman, directors of Life Medical, filed a separate motion to dismiss. On December 16, 2014, defendant Fitzgerald, a former Life Medical CEO, filed a motion to dismiss pro se.

This court held oral argument concerning these motions on May 8, 2015. There, the court directed plaintiffs to file a supplement clarifying ambiguities as to which individual plaintiffs in the complaint were alleging reliance on which particular statements by defendants. Plaintiffs filed such a supplement on June 22,2015.

After receiving permission from the court, defendants Life Medical, Kelly, and Lierman jointly filed an additional memorandum in support of their motions to dismiss.on August 7, 2015. Fitzgerald did the same on August 13, .2015. Plaintiffs filed a response on September 18, 2015.

The Complaint

The following facts from the complaint are taken as true for purposes of this motion.

[190] Life Medical is a privately-held Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York, In 2007, Life Medical purchased licensing rights in a breast disease detection device known as the BreastCare DTS (“BreastCare device”). (Dkt. No. 22, Am.Compl. ¶ 62.) Life Medical purported to devise plans for the manufacture and international marketing of this device. (Id. ¶ 84-100.) In 2009, Life Medical acquired substantially all of the assets of the company that invented the Breast-Care device. (Id. ¶ 64.) As of the date of the complaint, Life Medical had neither sold any BreastCare devices, nor reported any revenue. (Id. ¶ 69.) Between 2009 and 2011, the market value of Life Medical declined from approximately $32.6 million to approximately zero. (Id. ¶¶ 71-72.) Plaintiffs allege that this failure was a consequence of malfeasance by defendants. (Id. ¶¶ 6-7.) .

At different times between 2007 and 2011, the various plaintiffs named in the complaint purchased a total of about $3.8 million in Life Medical stock. Each plaintiff decided to invest in reliance on one or more of the following: (1) oral representations made by defendant and former Life Medical CEO Carol Fitzgerald between 2007 and 2011; (2) a March 22, 2010 business plan or executive summary thereof (“2010 business plan”); (3) a private placement memorandum dated July or August of 2011 (“2011 PPM”); and (4) other offering materials including subscription agreements, financial projections, and information on the company website. (Id. ¶1¶ 3-54; Dkt. No. 47, Supp. to Am. Compl. at 1-25; Dkt. No. 29, Rickner Decl. Ex. 46; Dkt. No. 39, Rickner Decl. Exs. A-C.)

In August 2012, Life Medical responded to a shareholder document request made pursuant to Section 220(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Through that request, plaintiffs learned that representations upon which they had relied in making their investments were false. (Dkt. No. 22, Amended Complaint ¶ 12.) Specifically plaintiffs learned that Life Medical and' Fitzgerald intentionally or recklessly misrepresented (1) how invested funds would be used to market the BreastCare device; (2) defendants’ intention to use investment funds to satisfy preexisting legal obligations; (3) the status of the BreastCare device’s'patents and regulatory approvals; (4) the company’s capacity to manufacture BreastCare devices; (5) the. BreastCare device’s prospects for overseas sales; (6) Atlantic Accelerator, Ltd.’s assessment of Life Medical; (7) Life Medical’s distribution agreement with a Canadian company; (8) the relevance or validity of certain clinical studies; (9) the accuracy of financial projections; and (10) that Life Medical was obtaining certification ■ as a “woman owned business” in order to benefit from certain grants and programs. (Id. ■ ¶¶ 75-106.)

The complaint also contains allegations of mismanagement. Plaintiffs contend that defendants misallocated investment capital and failed to maintain necessary regulatory approvals and patents. (Id. ¶¶ 76-81.) Plaintiffs also contend that Life Medical’s directors ignored various indicators of Fitzgerald’s incompetence or malfeasance. (Id. ¶¶ 113-14.) Furthermore, according to the complaint, Life Medical’s directors and officers failed to proride plaintiffs with accurate information, neglected to hold shareholder meetings, concealed problems with the company, and engaged in self-dealing. (Id. ¶¶ 107-11, 156-64.)

Plaintiffs bring causes of action against Life Medical and Fitzgerald for violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10-5. Against Life Medical, they bring causes of action for control person liability [191] under Section 20(a) of the 1934 Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78t. They further allege common law fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment against Life Medical and Fitzgerald. Finally, plaintiffs allege breaches of fiduciary duty against Kelly and Lierman, common law negligence against Life Medical, Kelly, and Li-erman, and seek punitive damages against all defendants.

Motion to Dismiss Standard

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Abrams v. Life Medical Technologies, Inc., 135 F. Supp. 3d 185, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 131789, 2015 WL 5724801 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

135 F. Supp. 3d 185 (Abrams v. Life Medical Technologies, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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