Clements v. Sanofi-Aventis, U.S., Inc.

111 F. Supp. 3d 586, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75918, 2015 WL 3648911
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedJune 10, 2015
DocketCiv. No. 14-cv-1423 (KM)
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 111 F. Supp. 3d 586 (Clements v. Sanofi-Aventis, U.S., Inc.) 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
Clements v. Sanofi-Aventis, U.S., Inc., 111 F. Supp. 3d 586, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75918, 2015 WL 3648911 (D.N.J. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

KEVIN McNULTY, District Judge:

This is a personal injury action brought by plaintiff Victoria Clements for injuries allegedly sustained following the adminis[591]*591tration of Sculptra, a medical device consisting of an injectable substance intended to treat the loss of facial fat. Now before the Court is the motion of the defendants (collectively, “Sanofi”) for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth below, the motion is denied as presented, but granted to the extent that the complaint is dismissed without prejudice.

Sanofi has styled its motion as one for summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56. Plaintiff Clements has not submitted a responsive Statement of Material Facts Not in Dispute, as required by Local Rule 56.1(a). Nor has Clements really made any substantial factual showing in opposition to Sanofi’s summary judgment motion. Clements’s explanation is that she has not had the opportunity to complete discovery, and that Sanofi’s summary judgment motion is therefore premature.

If Clements’s explanation were properly presented, and if I accepted it, I might simply terminate Sanofi’s motion and permit discovery to proceed. Sanofi’s contentions, however, are arguments of law. For example, Sanofi argues that the state law causes of action pled in the complaint are either preempted by federal law or subsumed by the New Jersey Products Liability Act. Such contentions, directed to the face of the complaint, are appropriate for consideration under the standards for a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. The only extrinsic facts relevant to such a motion pertain to the FDA approvals of Sanofi’s medical device. Those approvals are admitted by the plaintiff in her brief, and in any event are readily susceptible of judicial notice. See p. 4 n. 2, infra. I also observe that Clements’s complaint is not pleaded with the factual specificity required by the Federal Rules. I therefore may profitably treat this as the equivalent of a motion to dismiss.1

The complaint as presented should be dismissed. I conclude, however, that neither summary judgment nor a dismissal with prejudice would be procedurally fair. This state-law complaint was removed from state court to federal court by Sanofi. When Clements filed it, she was not reasonably on notice that she would be held to federal pleading standards. Her brief in opposition to Sanofi’s motion also asserts facts, not pled in the complaint, that she says would support a non-preempted claim. I do not rule on those contentions in advance. I do, however, provide that this order of dismissal is without prejudice to the filing of an amended complaint within 30 days.

I. BACKGROUND

Statutory Background

Congress passed the Medical Device Amendments (MDA) to the FDCA in 1976 to impose uniform requirements for the introduction of new medical devices into the market. See 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq. The MDA established three levels of federal oversight depending on the risks presented by a particular medical device. The devices that receive the highest level of scrutiny are Class III medical devices: those “purported or represented to be for a use in supporting human life or for a use which is of substantial importance in preventing impairment of human health, or [592]*592presents a potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury.” 21 U.S.C. § 360(l)(c)(ii).

The MDA subjects Class III medical devices to a rigorous premarket approval (“PMA”) process. The PMA process is designed to “provide reasonable assurance” of the device’s safety and efficacy. 21 U.S.C. § 360(a)(C)(ii)(II). PMA review requires, among other things, the following:

[F]ull reports of all studies and investigation of the device’s safety and effectiveness that have been published or should reasonably be known to the applicant; a “full statement” of the device’s “components, ingredients, and properties and of the principle or principles of operation”; “a full description of the methods used in, and the facilities and the facilities and controls used for, the manufacture, processing, and when, when relevant, packing and installation of, such device”; samples or device components required by the FDA; and a specimen of the proposed labeling.

Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc., 552 U.S. 312, 317, 128 S.Ct. 999, 169 L.Ed.2d 892 (2008) (quoting 21 U.S.C. § 360e(c)(l)). PMA review also requires the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) to “determine that the [device’s] proposed labeling is neither false nor misleading.” Id. at 318, 128 S.Ct. 999 (quoting 21 U.S.C. § 360e(d)(l)(A)). A manufacturer cannot manufacture or sell a device unless it receives PMA. Once a device has been approved, “the MDA forbids the manufacturer to make, without FDA permission, changes in design specifications, manufacturing processes, labeling, or any other attribute, that would affect safety or effectiveness.” Id. at 319, 128 S.Ct. 999.

FDA Approval of Sculptra2

Sculptra, a Class III medical device, was approved through the PMA process on August 3, 2004, after a nine-month review. (Def. Statement of Undisputed Facts Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1, Dkt. No. 9-1, ¶ 1) Sculptra was initially approved “for the restoration and/or correction of the signs of lipoatrophy — commonly known as facial fat loss — in people with human immunodeficiency virus (‘HIV’)”. (Id.)

On July 28, 2006, Sanofi filed a supplemental PMA application to allow Sculptra to be used for cosmetic purposes, regardless of whether its recipients suffered from HIV. (Id. at ¶ 2)

On July 28, 2009, after a three-year review, the FDA granted PMA, approving Sculptra’s use in “immune competent people as a single regimen for correction of shall to deep nasolabial fold contour deficiencies and other facial wrinkles in which deep dermal grip pattern injection technique is appropriate.” (Id.) Although marketed under a different name — “Sculptra Aesthetic” — Sanofi states that the device is identical to Sculptra. (Id. at ¶ 5)

[593]*593The FDA has never revoked, suspended, or otherwise interrupted its approval of Sculptra or Sculptra Aesthetic. (Id. at ¶ 4) Clements’s Use of Sculptra

The facts in this section are not contained in the Complaint. I refer to them as background, and also because they are relevant to my decision that the dismissal of the complaint should be without prejudice.

According to Clements’s brief, in 2004 Sculptra was approved for use on HIV/ AIDS patients. (Dkt. No. 14 at 5) She alleges that the defendants acknowledged this single approved use in a pamphlet. (Id.

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111 F. Supp. 3d 586, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 75918, 2015 WL 3648911, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clements-v-sanofi-aventis-us-inc-njd-2015.