Gonzalez v. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

930 F. Supp. 2d 808, 2013 WL 960652, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33585
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 12, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. H-12-1412
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 930 F. Supp. 2d 808 (Gonzalez v. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gonzalez v. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 930 F. Supp. 2d 808, 2013 WL 960652, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33585 (S.D. Tex. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MELINDA HARMON, District Judge.

Pending before the Court in the above referenced products liability case, removed from state court and alleging strict products liability, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, gross negligence, and negligence relating to Defendant Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc.’s (“Bayer’s”) contraceptive drug-releasing intrauterine system Mirena® (“Mirena”) and intrauterine contraceptive device (“IUD”), is Bayer’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (instrument # 4).

Bayer removed this case on diversity jurisdiction, arguing that Defendant Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas (“Planned Parenthood”) was fraudulently joined and never served. Plaintiff Siria Gonzalez did not challenge that contention and filed an amended complaint (# 6) omitting Planned Parenthood as a party defendant,1 thus mooting portions of the motion to dismiss directed toward Planned Parenthood. The Court therefore addresses the remainder of the motion to dismiss as it pertains to the amended pleading and Plaintiffs claims against Bayer.

Standard of Review

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2) provides, “A pleading that states a claim for relief must contain ... a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” When a district court reviews a motion to dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), it must construe the complaint in favor of the plaintiff and take all well-pleaded facts as true. Randall D. Wolcott, MD, PA v. Sebelius, 635 F.3d 757, 763 (5th Cir.2011), citing Gonzalez v. Kay, 577 F.3d 600, 603 (5th Cir.2009).

“While a complaint attacked by a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to plaintiffs obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.... ” Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 1964-65, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (citations omitted). “Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Id. at 1965, citing 5 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1216, pp. 235-236 (3d ed. 2004) (“[T]he pleading must contain something more ... than ... a statement of facts that merely creates a suspicion [of] a legally cognizable right of action”). “Twombly jettisoned the minimum notice pleading requirement of Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) [“a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief’], and instead required that a complaint allege enough facts to state a claim that is plausible on its face.” St. Germain v. Howard, 556 F.3d 261, 263 n. 2 (5th Cir.2009), citing In re Katrina Canal Breaches Litig., 495 F.3d 191, 205 (5th Cir.2007) (“To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, the plaintiff must plead ‘enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ”), citing Twombly, 127 S.Ct. at 1974. “ ‘A claim has facial plausibility when the pleaded factual content allows the court to draw the reason[811]*811able inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.’ ” Montoya v. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc., 614 F.3d 145, 148 (5th Cir.2010), quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1940, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). Dismissal is appropriate when the plaintiff fails to allege “ ‘enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face’ ” and therefore fails to “ ‘raise a right to relief above the speculative level.’ ” Montoya, 614 F.3d at 148, quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The plausibility standard is not akin to a “probability requirement,” but asks for more than a “possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “[TJhreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements do not suffice” under Rule 12(b). Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949. The plaintiff must plead specific facts, not merely conclusory allegations, to avoid dismissal. Collins v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, 224 F.3d 496, 498 (5th Cir.2000).

On a Rule 12(b)(6) review, although generally the court may not look beyond the pleadings, the Court may examine the complaint, documents attached to the complaint, and documents attached to the motion to dismiss to which the complaint refers and which are central to the plaintiffs elaim(s), as well as matters of public record. Lone Star Fund V (U.S.), L.P. v. Barclays Bank PLC, 594 F.3d 383, 387 (5th Cir.2010), citing Collins, 224 F.3d at 498-99; Cinel v. Connick, 15 F.3d 1338, 1341, 1343 n. 6 (5th Cir.1994). See also United States ex rel. Willard v. Humana Health Plan of Tex., Inc., 336 F.3d 375, 379 (5th Cir.2003) (“the court may consider ... matters of which judicial notice may be taken”). Taking judicial notice of public records directly relevant to the issue in dispute is proper on a Rule 12(b)(6) review and does not transform the motion into one for summary judgment. Funk v. Stryker Corp., 631 F.3d 777, 780 (5th Cir. 2011). “A judicially noticed fact must be one not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is either (1) generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or (2) capable of accurate and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” Fed.R.Evid. 201(b). Here Bayer has submitted a copy of the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA’s”) approval letter for the prescription drug Mirena (#4-1, Ex. A), which is a public record of which the Court may take judicial notice. See, e.g., U.S. ex rel. Bennett v. Medtronic, Inc., 747 F.Supp.2d 745, 755-56 & n. 9 (S.D.Tex.2010).

“Dismissal is proper if the complaint lacks an allegation regarding a required element necessary to obtain relief....” Rios v. City of Del Rio, Texas, 444 F.3d 417

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
930 F. Supp. 2d 808, 2013 WL 960652, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 33585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-v-bayer-healthcare-pharmaceuticals-inc-txsd-2013.