Bueno v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories

915 F. Supp. 845, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1643
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 7, 1996
DocketMDL No. 1038; No. 1:95 CV 5077
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 915 F. Supp. 845 (Bueno v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bueno v. Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, 915 F. Supp. 845, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1643 (E.D. Tex. 1996).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING THE POPULATION COUNCIL, INC.’S MOTION TO DISMISS FOR LACK OF PERSONAL JURISDICTION

SCHELL, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the court on The Population Council, Inc.’s1 Rule 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction filed on January 8, 1996. The Council filed the declarations of Sandra Arnold and Harold Nash in support of its motion. Plaintiff filed a response, including the declaration of Barbara J. Peters, on January 19, 1996. The court has determined that a hearing on this matter is unnecessary at this time. Upon consideration of the motion, response, declarations, and memoranda of law, the court is of the opinion that the motion should be DENIED.

The Factual and Legal CoNtext

On January 24, 1995, Plaintiff filed suit in California state court against various parties for injuries allegedly arising from implantation of the Norplant contraceptive system into her arm. Plaintiff has alleged causes of action against these parties for negligence, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, and strict liability. This case was removed to the United States District Court for the Central District of California on March 7, 1995, and was transferred to this court under MDL 1038 for resolution of pretrial matters. The Population Council, Inc. contends that it is not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of California and, as a result, not subject to the jurisdiction of this court under MDL 1038.2

The Legal FRAMEWORK

“Once a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction has been presented to a district court by a nonresident defendant, the party who seeks to invoke the jurisdiction of the district court bears the burden of establishing contacts by the non-resident defendant sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the court.” WNS, Inc. v. Farrow, 884 F.2d 200, 203 (5th Cir.1989) (citing D.J. Invs., Inc. v. Metzeler Motorcycle Tire Agent Gregg, Inc., 754 F.2d 542, 545 (5th Cir.1985)). To satisfy this burden, a plaintiff must make a prima facie showing of personal jurisdiction. Id. A prima facie case may be established “by alleging facts in the complaint and affidavits sufficient to establish jurisdiction over the non-resident defendants.” Caldwell v. Palmetto State Sav. Bank, 811 F.2d 916, 917 (5th Cir.1987) (per curiam) (citing Hargrave v. Fibreboard Corp., 710 F.2d 1154, 1159 (5th Cir.1983); Brown v. Flowers Indus., Inc., 688 F.2d 328, 332 (5th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1023, 103 S.Ct. 1275, 75 L.Ed.2d 496 (1983)). For purposes of this analysis, conflicts in the facts alleged by the litigants are resolved in the plaintiffs favor. Caldwell, 811 F.2d at 917.

Uncontroverted allegations in the complaint must be taken as true. See, e.g., D.J. Invs., 754 F.2d at 546 (citing Brown, 688 F.2d at 332); Wyatt v. Kaplan, 686 F.2d 276, 280 (5th Cir.1982). However, when the unsubstantiated allegations are controverted by affidavit or declaration, the affidavit or declaration trumps the allegation. See Travelers Indem. Co. v. Calvert Fire Ins. Co., 798 F.2d 826, 831 (5th Cir.1986), modified, 836 F.2d 850 (1988).

The Allegations and Deolarations

As noted above, the contents of the Plaintiffs complaint and the declarations filed by the parties will frame this analysis. Aceord-[848]*848ingly, examination of the relevant portions of these documents is necessary. The Plaintiff’s complaint alleges, in relevant part:

5. That Defendant WYETH-AYERST; AMERICAN HOME PRODUCTS; WORLD POPULATION COUNCIL, INC.; AND DOES 1 THROUGH 25, and each of them, were and are engaged in the researching, developing, designing, trade marking, patenting, licensing, manufacturing, compounding, formulating, synthesizing, assembling, packaging, testing, distributing, preparing, selling, recommending, displaying, advertising, promoting, endorsing, warning, providing of safety information about, instructing in the use of, providing component parts for, and labeling of certain implants, sometimes known as the Norplant System, sometimes known as Levenorgestrel [sic] implants, or similar product designation. That said Defendants, and each of them, was and is placing said products on the market to be used by California residents.
9.The injuries complained of herein were directly and legally caused and contributed to by the negligence of the Defendants, and each of them, in the following particulars, among others: (1) That each of them knew or should have known in the exercise of reasonable care that the product which they compounded, formulated, synthesized, developed, designed, trademarked[,] patented, licensed, manufactured, assembled, packaged, tested, distributed, prepared, sold, recommended, displayed, advertised, promoted, endorsed, warned about, provided safety information about, instructed in the use of, provided component parts for, and labeled were in a dangerous and defective condition since they could and would cause serious injury that could and would be mistaken for other diseases. (2) That said Defendants failed to properly design and configure said product in a manner which appropriately would control the release of Levengestrel [sic]; progesterone, and other chemicals so that the dosage released would be appropriate to each patient. (3) That said Defendants failed to properly package the hormones to properly control the release of the synthetic hormone (4) that said defendants used a biologically active encapsulant sometimes known as Silastic, a silicone product, other similarly biologically active agent [sic]; (4) [sic] That said defendants knew or had reason to know that side-effects such as intracranial hypertension, blindness, memory loss, tumors, neurological injury, and immune system injuries, among others, were likely to occur, yet failed to properly advise prospective users of this product and their doctors of these serious injuries likely to occur, among other negligent acts and omissions.
10. Further, the injuries complained of herein were directly and legally caused by the failure of the Defendants, and each of them, to properly test and detect the dangerous and defective propensities of the aforementioned Norplant System, sometimes known as Norplant implants, or similar product designation, among other negligent acts.
11. That said Defendants, and each of them, failed to adequately warn and inform of the dangerous propensities of their product. That said Defendants knew or had reason to know that those for whose use the products were supplied would not realize or fully understand the dangerous condition of these products. That said Defendants knew or had reason to know that said products would be dangerous for the use for which it was supplied. Yet these Defendants provided the subject Norplant System, sometimes known as the Norplant implant, or similar product designation, without adequate and sufficient warnings of the danger, nor did they provide appropriate instructions on the use of these products without sustaining injury.

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Related

In Re Norplant Contraceptive Products Liability Lit.
915 F. Supp. 845 (E.D. Texas, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
915 F. Supp. 845, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1643, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bueno-v-wyeth-ayerst-laboratories-txed-1996.