Glynn v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

951 F. Supp. 2d 695
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Jersey
DecidedJune 27, 2013
DocketCivil Action Nos. 11-5304, 08-08
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 951 F. Supp. 2d 695 (Glynn v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.) 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
Glynn v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., 951 F. Supp. 2d 695 (D.N.J. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

PISANO, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Bernadette Glynn and Richard Glynn (“Plaintiffs”) brought this lawsuit against Defendant Merck, Sharp, & Dohme Corp. (“Defendant”), the manufacturer of Fosamax, which is a drug approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis. This matter is part of the multi-district litigation (“MDL”) concerning Fosamax and involves allegations that Fosamax causes atypical femur fractures (“AFFs1”), it caused Plaintiff Mrs. Glynn’s femur fracture, and Defendant failed to warn physicians about Fosamax and AFFs. Presently before the Court is Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment based upon Federal Preemption [docket # 25], Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law pursuant to Rule 50(a) [docket # 198], Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law pursuant to Rule 50(a) [docket # 209], and Renewed. Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law pursuant to Rule 50(b) [docket #216]. The issue in these Motions and before the Court is whether there is clear evidence that the FDA would not have approved a stronger warning to the Fosamax label, thereby warranting preemption of Plaintiffs’ failure to warn claim. See Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555, 129 S.Ct. 1187, 173 L.Ed.2d 51 (2009). This Court heard oral argument on the federal pre[697]*697emption issue on March 8, 2013 and reserved decision until a trial record had been established. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 78. A jury trial took place from April 8, 2013 to April 29, 2013. On April 29, 2013, the jury returned a verdict for Defendant, finding that Plaintiff did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that she experienced an AFF in April 2009. Because the record contains clear evidence that the FDA would not have approved a stronger warning to the Precautions section of the Fosamax label, this Court grants the Motions on federal preemption.

I. BACKGROUND2

A. Fosamax Approval & Mrs. Glynn’s Fosamax Use

In September 1995, the FDA approved Fosamax for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, and in April 1997, the FDA approved Fosamax for the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Since this time, Fosamax has remained FDA approved for the treatment and prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

In 2002, Dr. Murat Acemoglu first prescribed Fosamax to Mrs. Glynn after diagnosing her with “osteopenia — osteoporosis” [docket # 27, Confoy Dec., Ex. 27 ’& 28]. Mrs. Glynn took Fosamax until April 17, 2009, when she fractured her right femur. Final Pretrial Order ¶ 3.

B. History of Fosamax Label Change

On June 13, 2008, the FDA contacted Defendant and other bisphosphonate3 manufacturers and requested any investigations they conducted “regarding the occurrence of atypical fractures with bisphosphonate use,” any investigational plans, and “all hip and femoral fracture case reports” they received [docket # 26, Declaration of Karen A. Confoy in Support of the Motion for Summary Judgment and Motion for Summary Judgment Based Upon Federal Preemption (“Confoy Dec.”), Ex. 5; docket #27, Confoy Dec., Ex. 4], The FDA also asked that Defendant and the other bisphosphonate manufacturers make an effort where possible “to clarify the fracture location and the duration of bisphosphonate exposure for all case reports.” Id. The FDA explained that it was “aware of reports regarding the occurrence of subtrochanteric hip fractures in patients using bisphosphonates” and is “concerned about this developing safety signal.” Id.

On July 18, 2008, Defendant responded to the FDA’s request and included summary tables of clinical and post-marketing data, clinical Council for International Orgánizations of Medical Sciences (“CIOMS”) reports, and post-marketing CIOMS reports [docket #27, Confoy Dec., Ex. 6]. The FDA’s review of this data as well as the data from other bisphosphonate manufacturers “did not show an increase in ... [the risk of atypical subtrochanteric femur fractures] in women using these medications” [docket # 26, Confoy Dec., Ex. 7].

On September 15, 2008, Defendant submitted a Prior Approval Supplement (“PAS”) to the FDA, proposing “to add language to' both the Precaution^] and Adverse Reactions/Post-Marketing Experience section[s] of the label to describe low-energy” subtrochanteric femoral fractures [docket #27, Confoy Dec., Ex. 8], Defendant explained that “[i]t is not possi[698]*698ble with the present data to establish whether treatment with” Fosamax “increases the risk of [these] ... low-energy subtrochanteric and/or proximal shaft fractures,” but because there is a temporal association between these fractures and Fosamax, Defendant thought that it was “important to include an appropriate statement. about them in the product label.” Id. Defendant sought to add the following language to the Precautions section of the label:

Low-Energy Femoral Shaft Fracture
Low-energy fractures of the subtrochanteric and proximal femoral shaft have been reported in a small number of bisphosphonatetreated patients. Some were stress fractures (also known as insufficiency fractures) occurring in the absence of trauma. Some patients experienced prodromal pain in the affected area, often associated with imaging features of stress fracture, weeks .to months before a complete fracture occurred. The number of reports of this condition is very low, and stress fractures with similar clinical features also have occurred in patients not treated with bisphosphonates. Patients with suspected stress fractures should be evaluated, including evaluation for known causes and risk factors (e.g., vitamin D deficiency, malabsorption, glucocorticoid use, previous stress fracture, lower extremity arthritis or fracture, extreme or increased exercise, diabetes mellitus, chronic alcohol abuse), and receive appropriate orthopaedic care. Interruption of bisphosphonate therapy in patients with stress fractures should be considered, pending evaluation of the patient, based on individual benefit/risk assessment.
[Id.]

Additionally, Defendant proposed adding “low-energy femoral shaft fracture” to the Adverse Reactions/Post-Marketing Experience section of the label and the following statement to the Patient Package Insert: “Patients have experienced fracture in a specific part of the thigh bone. Call your doctor if you develop new or unusual pain in the hip or thigh.” Id.

On April 15, 2009, an FDA representative e-mailed Defendant and stated that the proposed label change to the Adverse Reactions/Posb-Marketing Experience section of the label would be approved but the label change to the Precautions section would not be approved [docket # 101, Cecchi Dec., Ex. 83; docket #27, Confoy Dec., Ex. 10], Two days later, Mrs. Glynn fractured her femur.

On May 22, 2009, one month after Mrs. Glynn’s fracture, the FDA formally responded to Defendant’s proposed label change, recommending that it add “low energy femoral shaft and subtrochanteric fractures” to the Adverse Reactions/Post-Marketing Experience section of the label; however, the FDA did not approve the label change to the Precautions section [docket # 27, Confoy Dec., Ex.

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Bluebook (online)
951 F. Supp. 2d 695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glynn-v-merck-sharp-dohme-corp-njd-2013.