Greenberg v. Miami Children's Hospital Research Institute, Inc.

264 F. Supp. 2d 1064, 121 A.L.R. 5th 687, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8959, 2003 WL 21246347
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedMay 29, 2003
DocketNo. 02-22244-CIV-MORENO
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 264 F. Supp. 2d 1064 (Greenberg v. Miami Children's Hospital Research Institute, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greenberg v. Miami Children's Hospital Research Institute, Inc., 264 F. Supp. 2d 1064, 121 A.L.R. 5th 687, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8959, 2003 WL 21246347 (S.D. Fla. 2003).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS’ MOTIONS TO DISMISS

MORENO, District Judge.

This case presents an unfortunate legal dilemma set against the backdrop of a historic breakthrough in the treatment of a previously intractable genetic disorder. Both parties in this case were jointly engaged in a noble and dogged pursuit to detect and find a cure for a fatal genetic disorder called Canavan disease, a rare genetic disease that occurs most frequently in Ashkenazi Jewish families.

Plaintiffs, a group of individuals and non-profit institutions, are attempting to assert legal rights against Defendant researcher and his research institution’s commercialization of the fruits of their Ca-navan disease research. Before the Court is Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. Because the Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to allege sufficient facts as to all their claims except unjust enrichment, the motions are GRANTED in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Daniel Greenberg (“Green-berg”), Fern Kupfer (“Kupfer”), Frieda Eisen (“Eisen”), David Green (“Green”), Canavan Foundation, Dor Yeshorim, and National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association, Inc. (collectively “Plaintiffs”) brought this diversity action for damages and equitable and injunctive relief to redress Defendants’ alleged breach of informed consent, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, fraudulent concealment, conversion, and misappropriation of trade secrets. The individual plaintiffs Greenberg, Kupfer, Eisen, and Green are parents of children who were afflicted with Canavan disease. The other Plaintiffs are non-profit organizations that provided funding and information to Defendants to research and discover the Canavan disease gene. Defendants are the physician-researcher, Dr. Reuben Matalón (“Matal-ón”), Variety Children’s Hospital d/b/a Miami Children’s Hospital (“MCH”), and the hospital’s research affiliate, Miami Children’s Hospital Research Institute (“MCHRI”).

The Complaint alleges a tale of a successful research collaboration gone sour. In 1987, Canavan disease still remained a mystery — there was no way to identify who was a carrier of the disease, nor was there a way to identify a fetus with Ca-navan disease. Plaintiff Greenberg approached Dr. Matalón, a research physician who was then affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago for assistance. Greenberg requested Matalon’s involvement in discovering the genes that were ostensibly responsible for this fatal disease, so that tests could be administered to determine carriers and allow for prenatal testing for the disease.

[1067]*1067At the outset of the collaboration, Greenberg and the Chicago Chapter of the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Disease Association, Inc. (“NTSAD”) located other Canavan families and convinced them to provide tissue (such as blood, urine, and autopsy samples), financial support, and aid in identifying the location of Canavan families internationally. The other individual Plaintiffs began supplying Matalón with the same types of information and samples beginning in the late 1980s. Greenberg and NTSAD also created a confidential database and compilation — the Canavan registry — with epidemiological, medical and other information about the families.

Defendant Matalón became associated in 1990 with Defendants Miami Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Inc. and Variety Children’s Hospital d/b/a Miami Children’s Hospital. Defendant Matalón continued his relationship with the Plaintiffs after his move, accepting more tissue and blood samples as well as financial support.

The individual Plaintiffs allege that they provided Matalón with these samples and confidential information “with the understanding and expectations that such samples and information would be used for the specific purpose of researching Canavan disease and identifying mutations in the Canavan disease which could lead to carrier detection within their families and benefit the population at large.” Compl. ¶ 21. Plaintiffs further allege that it was their “understanding that any carrier and prenatal testing developed in connection with the research for which they were providing essential support would be provided on an affordable and accessible basis, and that Matalon’s research would remain in the public domain to promote the discovery of more effective prevention techniques and treatments and, eventually, to effectuate a cure for Canavan disease.” Id. ¶ 22. This understanding stemmed from their “experience in community testing for Tay-Sachs disease, another deadly genetic disease that occurs most frequently in families of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.” Id. ¶ 28.

There was a breakthrough in the research in 1993. Using Plaintiffs’ blood and tissue samples, familial pedigree information, contacts, and financial support, Matal-ón and his research team successfully isolated the gene responsible for Canavan disease. After this key advancement, Plaintiffs allege that they continued to provide Matalón with more tissue and blood in order to learn more about the disease and its precursor gene.

In September 1994, unbeknownst to Plaintiffs, a patent application was submitted for the genetic sequence that Defendants had identified. This application was granted in October 1997, and Dr. Matalón was listed as an inventor on the gene patent and related applications for the Ca-navan disease, Patent No. 5,679,635 (the “Patent”). Through patenting, Defendants acquired the ability to restrict any activity related to the Canavan disease gene, including without limitation: carrier and prenatal testing, gene therapy and other treatments for Canavan disease and research involving the gene and its mutations.

Although the Patent was issued in October 1997, Plaintiffs allege that they did not learn of it until November 1998, when MCH revealed their intention to limit Ca-navan disease testing through a campaign of restrictive licensing of the Patent. Id. ¶ 29. Specifically, on November 12, 1998, Plaintiffs allege that Defendants MCH and MCHRI began to “threaten” the centers that offered Canavan testing with possible enforcement actions regarding the recently-issued patent. Defendant MCH also began restricting public accessibility through negotiating exclusive licensing agreements and charging royalty fees. Id. ¶ 30.

[1068]*1068Plaintiffs allege that at no time were they informed that Defendants intended to seek a patent on the research. Nor were they told of Defendants’ intentions to commercialize the fruits of the research and to restrict access to Canavan disease testing. Id. ¶21.

Based on these facts, Plaintiffs filed a six-count complaint on October 30, 2000, against Defendants asserting the following causes of action: (1) lack of informed consent; (2) breach of fiduciary duty; (8) unjust enrichment; (4) fraudulent concealment; (5) conversion; and (6) misappropriation of trade secrets. Plaintiffs generally seek a permanent injunction restraining Defendants from enforcing their patent rights, damages in the form of all royalties Defendants have received on the Patent as well as all financial contributions Plaintiffs made to benefit Defendants’ research.

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Greenberg v. MIAMI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL RES. INST., INC.
264 F. Supp. 2d 1064 (S.D. Florida, 2003)

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264 F. Supp. 2d 1064, 121 A.L.R. 5th 687, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8959, 2003 WL 21246347, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greenberg-v-miami-childrens-hospital-research-institute-inc-flsd-2003.