Anguiano v. EI DuPont De Nemours and Co., Inc.

808 F. Supp. 719, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20937, 1992 WL 365755
CourtDistrict Court, D. Arizona
DecidedDecember 3, 1992
DocketCIV 92-298 TUC RMB
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 808 F. Supp. 719 (Anguiano v. EI DuPont De Nemours and Co., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anguiano v. EI DuPont De Nemours and Co., Inc., 808 F. Supp. 719, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20937, 1992 WL 365755 (D. Ariz. 1992).

Opinion

ORDER

BILBY, District Judge.

Twenty-two plaintiffs, each of whom had a temporomandibular joint (TMJ) made of Proplast implanted into his or her jaw between 1978 and 1986, sued DuPont, manufacturer of polytetrafluoroethylene *721 (PTFE) 1 , on negligence and strict liability claims. PTFE was used by Vitek, Inc. (Vitek) to manufacture Proplast, which was then fabricated into the patented prosthesis that was implanted into the jaw of each plaintiff. The prostheses were implanted by oral surgeons. Plaintiffs alleged that the protheses injured them and that PTFE was the specific ingredient in the protheses responsible for the injuries. 2 They asserted that DuPont was liable because it breached its duty to warn them of the risks involved in having an implant made from PTFE inserted into their jaws.

DuPont moved for summary judgment against both the negligence and the strict liability claims asserting that as a raw materials supplier to a medical device manufacturer, it owed no duty to the plaintiffs, who were the ultimate consumers of the medical devices. DuPont also moved to sever each plaintiffs claim from those of the others. Plaintiffs moved for the court’s permission to use evidence and information obtained through discovery in parallel cases.

After careful consideration of all information submitted by both parties, the court finds that there is no genuine issue as to the fact of DuPont’s duty to warn the plaintiffs and that DuPont is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. DuPont had no legal duty to warn the plaintiffs.

Having found that DuPont is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, the court finds it unnecessary to address the remaining motions.

I.FACTS

1. Vitek is an independent company neither owned nor controlled by DuPont. Vitek was founded by Dr. Homsy, a former employee of DuPont.

2. Vitek, via Dr. Homsy, designed, patented, and manufactured Proplast and designed, patented, and manufactured temporomandibular joint implants from the Proplast.

3. DuPont supplied PTFE to Vitek.

4. PTFE is safe and chemically inert in the state in which it was sold to Vitek.

5. A patented eight-step process involving mixing, filtering, compressing, drying, rolling, sintering, leaching, and redrying is used to convert PTFE into Proplast.

6. Prior to sale, DuPont informed Vitek, in writing, of certain studies that had found PTFE to be unsatisfactory when used in hip joints in dogs. Dr. Homsy indicated that he was aware of the studies, that they were flawed, and that Proplast was superior to the pure PTFE used in the hip joints.

7. DuPont informed Vitek that PTFE was “made for industrial purposes only” and that DuPont did not market any “medical or surgical grades” of PTFE. DuPont advised Vitek that in evaluating or using PTFE for medical or surgical purposes, Vitek must rely on its own medical and legal judgment without any representation on the part of DuPont.

8. DuPont expressly conditioned sale of PTFE to Vitek on Vitek’s promise to comply with all FDA regulations. Dr. Homsy signed a written acknowledgement of this commitment.

9. Vitek participated in a series of FDA sponsored hearings before three expert medical panels. In 1982, the FDA approved Proplast and approved the sale of Proplast implants to oral surgeons and other licensed physicians. DuPont did not participate in these hearings.

10. Beginning no later than 1984, DuPont knowingly allowed Vitek to use DuPont’s name and registered trademark in advertisements and literature about Proplast implants.

11. Neither DuPont nor Vitek warned the oral surgeons or the recipients of the implants about any potential risks relative to PTFE.

*722 II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard for Summary Judgment

Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment “shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions of file, together with affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Whether a fact is material depends on the substantive law at issue. “Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law will properly preclude the entry of summary judgment. Factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary will not be counted.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2510, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The question to be answered is “whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Id., at 251-252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512. The initial burden is on the moving party to show that there is no genuine issue of material fact. Once satisfied, the burden shifts to the opponent to demonstrate through production of probative evidence that there remains an issue of fact to be tried. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552-53, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

On summary judgment, the inferences to be drawn from the underlying facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 993, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962); Ybarra v. Reno Thunderbird Mobile Home Village, 723 F.2d 675 (9th Cir.1984). The court’s function is not to weigh the evidence and determine the truth of the matter, but rather to determine whether there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson, supra, 477 U.S. at 249, 106 S.Ct. at 2510. The court must, therefore, examine the facts to determine whether they are material, and assess the inferences that might reasonably be drawn from them.

B. Arizona Tort Law

Absent contrary Arizona law, Arizona courts apply the law of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (hereafter R2T) to cases sounding in tort. Ft. Lowell-NSS Ltd. Partnership v. Kelly, 166 Ariz. 96, 800 P.2d 962, 968 (Ariz.1990).

1). The Duty of Care

The issue of whether a defendant owes a duty of due care to a particular plaintiff or group of plaintiffs is usually one that the court decides as a matter of law. Markowitz v. Arizona Parks Bd., 146 Ariz. 352,

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
808 F. Supp. 719, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20937, 1992 WL 365755, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anguiano-v-ei-dupont-de-nemours-and-co-inc-azd-1992.