D.W.K. v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc.

87 F. Supp. 3d 916, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108393, 2015 WL 4880655
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedFebruary 20, 2015
DocketCase No. 14-CV-847-NJR-SCW
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 87 F. Supp. 3d 916 (D.W.K. v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.W.K. v. Abbott Laboratories, Inc., 87 F. Supp. 3d 916, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108393, 2015 WL 4880655 (S.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

ROSENSTENGEL, United States District Judge:

Pending before the Court are twenty-two motions in limine filed by Abbott and three motions in limine filed by Plaintiffs.1 At the February 9 final pretrial conference, the parties advised the Court that the first five motions in limine filed by Abbott bear the most impact on trial preparations with respect to editing deposition transcripts and resolving objections to exhibits. Accordingly, the Court addresses the first five motions in limine in this Order and will rule on the remaining motions in limine as soon as practicable. The Court expects the parties to resolve objections to exhibits and deposition testimony to the extent the issues are addressed by the Court’s in limine rulings. The Court will not rehash in limine rulings and will only consider specific objections to specific exhibits and testimony that are not covered by these rulings. Any such evidentiary questions that will arise during the first week of trial shall be identified and presented to the Court no later than noon on Friday, February 27, 2015. The Court expects them to be minimal.

As explained in previous orders of the Court, this litigation involves a mass tort action, currently consisting of eighty-five cases on the undersigned District Judge’s docket, in which numerous plaintiffs allege [920]*920that they sustained personal injuries from the use of Abbott’s prescription drug De-pakote.2 This mass tort action was reassigned to the undersigned District Judge from the docket of Judge David Herndon on May 19, 2014 (See Doc. 288 in Lead Case 12-cv-52). On July 25, 2014, the Court selected the following three bellwether cases for trial: D.W.K., Jr. and parents Mary and Daniel Kaleta (12-cv-57); E.P. and C.P. and parents Roger and Mindy Pyszkowski (to be tried together) (12-cv-56); and J.F. and parent Michelle Leal (13-cv-34) (See Doc. 304 in Lead Case No. 12-cv-52). The Court explained that D.W.K., Jr. and parents Mary and Daniel Kaleta (12-cv-57) would be tried first. For case management and docket control purposes, the Court opened a new case number, 14-cv-847-NJR-SCW, for these three cases only (12-cv-57, 12-cv-56, 13-cv-34). The Court then set a disposi-tive motion and Daubert motion deadline of December 1, 2014 (Id.). As to D.W.K., Jr. and parents Mary and Daniel Kaleta (12-cv-0057), the Court set a Final Pretrial Conference for February 9, 2015, and a Jury Trial date of February 17, 2015, which has since been moved to March 2, 2015 (See Docs. 1 & 49 in Case No. 14-cv-847).

A district court’s authority to rule on motions in limine is derived from its inherent authority to control the course of trials. See Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 41, n. 6, 105 S.Ct. 460, 83 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984). “[A] motion in limine should be granted only if the evidence sought to be excluded is clearly inadmissible for any purpose.” Noble v. Sheahan, 116 F.Supp.2d 966, 969 (N.D.Ill.2000). Motions in limine are intended “to avoid the delay- and occasional prejudice caused by objections and offers of proof at trial.” Wilson v. Williams, 182 F.3d 562, 566 (7th Cir.1999). Such motions permit the district court to eliminate evidence “that clearly ought not be presented to the jury,” because it is inadmissible for any purpose. Jonasson v. Lutheran Child and Family Services, 115 F.3d 436, 440 (7th Cir.1997). “[T]he party moving to exclude evidence in limine has the burden of establishing that the evidence is not admissible for any purpose.” Euroholdings Capital & Inv. Corp. v. Harris Trust & Sav. Bank, 602 F.Supp.2d 928, 934 (N.D.Ill.2009).

Motion in limine rulings “are made before the district court has had a chance to hear all of the evidence or see the trial develop.” Currie v. Cundiff, No. 09-cv-866-MJR, 2012 WL 2254356, at *1 (S.D.Ill. June 15, 2012). As such, these rulings are preliminary and may be revisited based on the court’s exposure to the evidence at trial. Id.; United States v. Connelly, 874 F.2d 412, 416 (7th Cir.1989).

Some evidentiary submissions cannot be evaluated accurately or sufficiently prior to trial. Jonasson, 115 F.3d at 440. “In these instances, it is necessary to defer ruling until during trial, when the trial judge can better estimate its impact on the jury.” Id. Further, the denial of a motion in limine does not preclude a party from objecting to any evidence at trial or from requesting a limiting instruction. Team Play, Inc. v. Boyer, No. 03-C-7240, 2005 WL 3320746, at *1 (N.D.Ill.Dec. 5, 2005).

The motions have been thoroughly briefed (with detailed motions, lengthy re[921]*921sponses, and contentious reply briefs),3 and the Court heard from the parties concerning particular questions on certain motions at the February 9 final pretrial conference. For the reasons set forth below, the Court rules as follows:

1. Abbott’s Motion in. limine No. 1— To exclude evidence, testimony and argument about preempted labeling issues (Docs.162,164).

GRANTED.

This motion in limine seeks to exclude evidence, testimony, or argument by Plaintiffs (1) suggesting that Abbott should have changed the FDA-approved warnings for Depakote in order to warn that prenatal Depakote exposure could contribute to developmental delay or (2) that Abbott should have changed the FDA-mandated Black Box Warnings accompanying the label.

Abbott asked the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for permission to add developmental delay warnings to the Depakote label in April 2005. The FDA denied the request in February 2006. A neurology research scientist, Dr. Kimford Meador, presented interim data from a study at the American Epilepsy Society annual meeting in December 2004. Abbott renewed its request in May 2007; the FDA denied it in February 2008. Abbott tried again in April 2009 (based on another interim study by Dr. Meador), but the warnings concerning developmental delay were not added to the label until 2011. Abbott argues that this evidence demonstrates that the developmental delay failure to warn claim is preempted because the FDA’s rejections prove that it would have been impossible for Abbott to have implemented an FDA-approved developmental delay warning prior to Plaintiff D.W.K’s in útero exposure to Depakote.

Conflict preemption occurs when a “state law is in actual conflict with federal law,” which exists when “it is impossible for a private party to comply with both state and federal requirements ... or where state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.” Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine, a Div. of Brunswick Corp., 537 U.S. 51, 64, 123 S.Ct. 518, 154 L.Ed.2d 466 (2002).

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Bluebook (online)
87 F. Supp. 3d 916, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108393, 2015 WL 4880655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dwk-v-abbott-laboratories-inc-ilsd-2015.