BREWER v. ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP

CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedApril 28, 2023
Docket2:18-cv-04461
StatusUnknown

This text of BREWER v. ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP (BREWER v. ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Jersey primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
BREWER v. ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP, (D.N.J. 2023).

Opinion

NOT FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

IN RE: PROTON-PUMP INHIBITOR PRODUCTS 2:17-MD-2789 (CCC)(LDW) LIABILITY LITIGATION (MDL 2789)

This Document Relates to: OPINION AND ORDER All cases listed in Exhibit A

CECCHI, District Judge. I. Introduction This matter comes before the Court upon Case Management Order (“CMO”) No. 65, ECF No. 723, entered on December 2, 2021, which identified 1,535 cases in which AstraZeneca LP (“AZLP”), AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP (“AZPLP”), and Merck & Co. Inc. d/b/a Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corporation (“Merck”) (collectively, the “AZ Defendants”) alleged that service of the summons and complaint had not been effected and in which no proof of service appeared on the docket of the case. CMO No. 65 ordered Plaintiffs in those cases within thirty days to (1) establish that service was effected on the AZ Defendants identified in Exhibit A to CMO No. 65, as required by Rule 4(m) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure1 by filing proof of service, (2) voluntarily dismiss the AZ Defendants, or (3) show cause why the AZ Defendants should not be dismissed within thirty days of entry of the Order. CMO No. 65, at 2 CMO No. 65 ordered Plaintiffs to file their responses on the dockets of the individual cases, and permitted the AZ Defendants to oppose within thirty days of each plaintiff’s response.2 Plaintiffs were specifically

1 All references to Rules herein are to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. 2 At the request of the parties, the deadline for Plaintiffs to file responses to CMO No. 65 was extended to March 31, 2022, and then to June 30, 2022. See CMO No. 67, at § I.D, ECF No. 747; CMO No. 70, at ¶ B, ECF No. 769. The deadline for the AZ Defendants to oppose each plaintiff’s advised that “[f]ailure to comply with the terms of this Order will result in the dismissal of the case as to the identified AZ Defendants.” CMO No. 65, at 2.

II. Legal Standard Rule 4 governs the requirements regarding serving a summons. In particular, Rule 4(m) requires that “[i]f a defendant is not served 90 days after the complaint is filed, the court – on motion or on its own after notice to plaintiff – must dismiss the action without prejudice against that defendant or order that service be made within a specified time. But if the plaintiff shows good cause for the failure, the court must extend the time for service for an appropriate period.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(m). In the Third Circuit, establishing good cause requires a “demonstration of good faith on the part of a party seeking an enlargement and some reasonable basis for

noncompliance with the time specified in the rules.” MCI Telecomms. Corp., 71 F.3d at 1097.3 In the absence of a showing of good cause for failure timely to effect service, the Court has discretion either to dismiss a case or permit an extension. Id. at 1098 (citing Petrucelli v. Bohringer & Ratzinger, 46 F.3d 1298, 1305 (3d Cir. 1995)). It is the plaintiff’s burden to demonstrate good cause for such failure to effectuate timely service or to persuade the Court to exercise its discretion and not dismiss the AZ Defendants from their cases. Spence v. Lahood, No. 11-3972, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80015, at *15 (D.N.J. June 8, 2012) (citing McCurdy v. Am. Bd. of Plastic Surgery, 157 F.3d 191, 196 (3d Cir. 1998)).

response was extended to May 15, 2022, then to August 16, 2022, and then to October 17, 2022. See CMO No. 67, at § I.D, ECF No. 747; CMO No. 70, at ¶ B, ECF No. 769; CMO No. 78, at ¶ A, ECF No. 841. 3 Plaintiffs note that the version of Rule 4 quoted in MCI Telecomms is no longer applicable after an amendment in 1993. The amendment removed “good cause” as an absolute prerequisite for an extension of service. However, as explained above, the good cause standard still exists in Rule 4(m). The amendment merely allows courts, in the absence of good cause, to exercise their discretion to allow an extension if the circumstances warrant. Notably, the Court’s Opinion and Order here is based on the current version of Rule 4(m). III. Discussion As stated above, CMO No. 65 ordered the identified Plaintiffs within thirty days to either establish that service was properly effectuated pursuant to Rule 4(m), voluntarily dismiss the AZ Defendants, or show cause why the AZ Defendants should not be dismissed. CMO No. 65 did not provide Plaintiffs with an extension of time to serve the Complaint, instead, it directed Plaintiffs

to prove that service had in fact been effectuated or to “show cause why the AZ Defendants should not be dismissed.” The 1,181 Plaintiffs in the cases identified on Exhibit A herein have failed to satisfy the requirements of CMO No. 65. Plaintiffs do not claim to have timely served the AZ Defendants in compliance with Rule 4(m). See CMO No. 7, at § II.D (“Absent agreement of the parties or subsequent Order of the Court, service of process shall be effectuated as required under Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”).4 While there is disagreement between Plaintiffs and the AZ Defendants concerning the fact or date of service in some of the cases here, it is undisputed that in the cases in which the AZ Defendants were served, service was effected only after CMO

No. 65 was entered. In fact, of these 1,181 cases (and utilizing the earlier purported date of service in the event that the parties did not agree on the date of service), service was made between one to two years after the ninety-day period in Rule 4(m) in 9 cases; between two to three years after the ninety-day period in 228 cases; and between three to just over four years after the ninety-day period in 944 cases. Further, no Plaintiff here has dismissed the AZ Defendants from their case. Finally, as further elaborated below, Plaintiffs have not shown cause why the AZ Defendants should not

4 Though not relevant in these cases, the Court notes that AZLP, AZPLP, and Merck agreed to accept service of a Complaint by email at PPIComplaints@icemiller.com. CMO No. 27, at § I.D, ECF No. 260 be dismissed. Accordingly, due to untimely service and lack of good cause shown, it is appropriate that the AZ Defendants be dismissed from the cases identified in Exhibit A. a. Plaintiffs Do Not Demonstrate Good Cause Mandating an Extension of Time to Serve

Plaintiffs’ responses to CMO No. 65 do not demonstrate good cause excusing their lack of timely service pursuant to Rule 4(m). Good cause requires “a demonstration of good faith on the part of the party seeking an enlargement . . . and some reasonable basis for noncompliance with the time specified in the rules.” MCI Telecomms. Corp., 71 F.3d at 1097. To determine whether good cause exists, the Court considers “(1) reasonableness of plaintiff’s efforts to serve (2) prejudice to the defendant by lack of timely service and (3) whether plaintiff moved for an enlargement of time to serve.” Id. The primary focus must always be on “the plaintiff’s reasons for not complying with the time limit in the first place.” Id. Yet here, Plaintiffs have not even attempted to show good cause for their failure to timely serve or addressed the reasons for untimeliness. See, e.g., Pl. Lawrence Lucerne’s Resp. to Orders to Show Cause Regarding Service of Process, at 22-24, No. 2:19-cv-04209, ECF No.

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BREWER v. ASTRAZENECA PHARMACEUTICALS LP, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brewer-v-astrazeneca-pharmaceuticals-lp-njd-2023.