Hassett v. Dafoe

74 A.3d 202, 2013 Pa. Super. 213, 2013 WL 3874882, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1683
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 29, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 74 A.3d 202 (Hassett v. Dafoe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hassett v. Dafoe, 74 A.3d 202, 2013 Pa. Super. 213, 2013 WL 3874882, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1683 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

OPINION BY

BOWES, J.:

PLIVA, Inc. and Teva Pharmaceutical USA, Inc., (“Generic Defendants”) appeal from November 18, 2011 order overruling their preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer to a master complaint filed by Paul E. Hassett, who was allegedly injured after ingesting metoclopramide.1 The Generic Defendants assert that all of Mr. Hassett’s claims against generic manufacturers of metoclopramide, regardless of the legal theory advanced and without consideration of the state law applicable, [206]*206are failure-to-warn claims. They continue that all causes of action are indistinguishable from those held pre-empted by the United States Supreme Court in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, — U.S. -, 131 S.Ct. 2567, 180 L.Ed.2d 580 (2011), and that the trial court erred in not dismissing them. After careful review, we reverse in part and affirm in part.

Generic Defendants premise jurisdiction to entertain this interlocutory appeal on the collateral order doctrine. We accept jurisdiction on that basis. For the reasons that follow, we reject Generic Defendants’ characterization of all claims herein as Mensing failure-to-warn claims as well as their and proposed blanket application of impossibility pre-emption without any regard for the applicable state law. Since all of the Mensing claims pre-dated the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (hereinafter the “FDAAA” or the “Act”), 121 Stat. 828, the Court expressed “no view on the impact of’ that legislation. Mensing, supra at 2574 n. 1. Thus, we decline to find post-Act claims pre-empted unless there is a thoughtful and careful examination of the federal law and state law applicable to ascertain whether state law compels what is impossible under federal law.2 However, we do find pre-empt-ed under Mensing those failure-to-warn claims arising prior to the 2007 Act that are premised solely on the content of generic drug labels that conform to the brand-name label.

The within appeal is one of four related appeals arising from mass tort litigation in Philadelphia County involving the name-brand drug Reglan and its generic bioequi-valent, metoclopramide. The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approved metoclopramide under the brand name Re-glan in 1980, and five years later, generic manufacturers started producing the drug. The drug stimulates digestive function by speeding up the movement of food through the system, and it is prescribed to treat chronic digestive problems such as diabetic gastroparesis and gastroesophageal reflux. In the years following FDA approval, long-term use of metoclopramide was linked to tardive dyskinesia, a severe and usually permanent neurological disorder characterized by involuntary and uncontrollable movements of the head, neck, face, arms, and trunk including facial grimacing and tongue thrusting. Third Amended Master Long Form Complaint at ¶ 82. Studies showed that as many as twenty-nine percent of the people who took the drug for several years developed tardive dyskinesia. Changes to the label were made in 1985, 2004, and 2009, to strengthen warnings of the dangers associated with use of the drug for more than twelve weeks.

Mr. Hassett and the other plaintiffs in this mass tort litigation commenced civil actions against both the name-brand manufacturers and generic manufacturers, seeking damages for personal injuries and deaths due to their ingestion of either the name brand metoclopramide, Reglan, or its generic bioequivalent.3 While such claims were pending, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in two cases: Mensing v. Wyeth, Inc., 588 F.Sd 603 (8th Cir.2009) (under Minnesota law) and Demahy v. Actavis, Inc., 593 F.3d 428 [207]*207(5th Cir.2010) (under Louisiana law), to determine whether state failure to warn claims based upon inadequate drug labeling could be maintained against generic drug manufacturers. The precise question was “whether federal drug regulations applicable to generic drug manufacturers directly conflict with, and thus pre-empt, these state-law claims.” Mensing, 131 S.Ct. at 2572.

The Mensing Court thoroughly discussed the differences in the federal regulations governing name-brand drug manufacturers, ie., the Reference Listed Drug (“RLD”) holders, and those pertaining to generic drug manufacturers, many of which originated with the passage of the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Amendments. That legislation streamlined the process whereby generic drug manufacturers could receive FDA approval to market their drugs. Rather than requiring generic manufacturers to file a New Drug Application (“NDA”) with the FDA, and to conduct extensive clinical trials to prove that their drugs were safe and effective, the Amendments permitted generic manufacturers to submit Abbreviated New Drug Applications (“ANDA”) demonstrating that the generic drug contained the same active ingredient, in the same dosage, with the same therapeutic effect as the already approved RLD. In addition, the legislation also mandated that the generic drug’s labeling be identical to the RLD’s labeling. 21 U.S.C. § 355(j)(2)(A)(v). While an RLD could change the warning on its label by utilizing a process known as “Changes Being Effected” (“CBE”), 21 C.F.R. § 314.70(c)(6)(iii)(C), that procedure was not available to generic manufacturers. Rather, a generic manufacturer could only change its label to conform to an updated RLD label or in response to an FDA directive.

The FDAAA, 121 Stat. 823, was enacted on September 27, 2007. The Mensing Court noted that its holding “expressed] no view on the impact of the 2007 Act.” Mensing at 2574 n. 1. The Court concluded that federal law applicable at the time the relevant events occurred in Mensing and Demahy precluded generic drug manufacturers from unilaterally changing their labels to strengthen a warning, which was the duty imposed in state failure-to-warn cases. It rejected the plaintiffs’ assertions that generic manufacturers could use the CBE procedure to change their labels or issue warnings to doctors via Dear Doctor letters. The fact that generic manufacturers could take steps to urge the FDA to change the warnings on the drug’s label did not mandate a different result. The Mensing Court reasoned that “when a party cannot satisfy its state duties without the Federal Government’s special permission and assistance, which is dependent on the exercise of judgment by a federal agency, that party cannot independently satisfy those state duties for pre-emption purposes.” Mensing, at 2581-82. State law yielded to federal law. Thus, Minnesota and Louisiana tort-law claims based on generic drug manufacturers’ failure to provide adequate warning labels for generic metoclopramide were pre-empted by federal law.

In reliance upon Mensing, Generic Defendants filed preliminary objections to Mr. Hassett’s third amended long form master complaint seeking dismissal of all claims against generic manufacturers of metoclopramide on pre-emption grounds. The trial court overruled the preliminary objections and held that Generic Defendants failed to sustain their heavy burden of proving with certainty that no legal recovery was possible.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
74 A.3d 202, 2013 Pa. Super. 213, 2013 WL 3874882, 2013 Pa. Super. LEXIS 1683, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hassett-v-dafoe-pasuperct-2013.