In re Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc.

158 F.R.D. 485, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15791, 1994 WL 605613
CourtDistrict Court, D. Wyoming
DecidedOctober 28, 1994
DocketMDL Docket No. 1013
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 158 F.R.D. 485 (In re Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Wyoming primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc., 158 F.R.D. 485, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15791, 1994 WL 605613 (D. Wyo. 1994).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING PARTIAL CLASS CERTIFICATION

BRIMMER, District Judge.

The above-entitled matter having come before the Court on the Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23, and the Court having reviewed the materials on file herein both in support of and in opposition to, and having heard the oral arguments of the parties, and being fully advised in the premises, FINDS and ORDERS as follows:

[487]*487 Background

The Defendant in this action, Copley Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is a generic drug manufacturer which produces and distributes Albu-terol, a bronchodilator prescription pharmaceutical. The Defendant distributes Albuter-ol through interstate commerce for use by patients with various respiratory disorders. The subject of this litigation is four batches of Albuterol which became contaminated with a micro organism believed to be pseudomo-nas Jluorescens. According to the Plaintiffs, this organism, or other contaminants, caused numerous injuries including bronchial infections, pneumonia, respiratory distress and, in some cases, death.

To comply with the Food and Drug Administration regulations of Albuterol, the Defendant tests each batch of its product for contaminants before distribution to the public. Defendant claims that it never found any sign of contamination until it began supplemental testing in December 1993. After several less drastic recalls and warnings, the Defendant issued a nationwide recall of Albu-terol on January 5, 1994. This recall remains in effect.

Defendant’s recall efforts were followed by the filing of numerous cases in state and federal courts throughout the country by plaintiffs claiming damages from the use of contaminated Albuterol. These cases ranged from relatively small actions with one or two plaintiffs to putative nationwide class actions representing all purchasers of Albuterol, injured or not. Currently, among the thirty cases before this Court eleven are putative class actions.

One of the class actions filed against Copley was that of Michelle Holmes and six other plaintiffs, brought in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The Holmes class was defined as “all persons who inhaled Albuterol manufactured, distributed and/or manufactured by Copley Pharmaceuticals, Inc.” It is this case that is before the Court as the putative class, with an amended class definition of “all persons who suffered damages as a result of the inhalation of Albuterol manufactured, supplied, distributed or placed in commerce by Defendant.” The Class Action Complaint is discussed more fully below.

Faced with a growing number of lawsuits filed throughout the country, the Defendant removed as many suits as possible to federal court and sought relief from the Judicial Panel for Multi-District Litigation, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407. Stay orders were entered in the federal cases and the MDL Panel heard the arguments of the Defendant on May 20, 1994. The MDL Panel consolidated the litigation before this Court and after an initial hearing on July 18, 1994, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, lead counsel and a plaintiffs’ steering committee were chosen. It is this lead counsel who has requested class certification.

On August 25, 1994, the Plaintiffs filed their first Amended Class Action Complaint and Jury Demand with this Court. This “Master Complaint” lists seven plaintiffs, representing those who allege injury from Albuterol as well as the parents of allegedly injured plaintiffs and representatives of decedents. Plaintiffs’ Master Complaint states six causes of action: (1) strict product liability, for both design and manufacturing defects, (2) negligence, (3) negligence per se, (4) breach of express and implied warranties, (5) fraud and punitive damages, and (6) a declaratory judgment ordering that epidemiological studies and medical monitoring be provided to the plaintiffs. As mentioned above, the Master Complaint narrowed the initial definition of the class to include only those who “suffered damages” from using Albuterol.

In its Answer, the Defendant admits that it initiated a nationwide recall of Albuterol, but denies any liability from the use of its product. Defendant also asserts numerous affirmative defenses to the Plaintiffs’ claims, including: assumption of risk, contributory negligence, statute of limitations, misuse of product, failure to state a claim for which relief can be granted, preexisting conditions, disclaimer of warranties, that the Plaintiffs’ claims for excessive fines violate Defendant’s due process and others.

Although the Plaintiffs favoring class certification and the Defendant reasserted their arguments in the Holmes ease, both parties have submitted further memoranda. Addi[488]*488tionally, the Court has received and considered the arguments of two groups of plaintiffs who oppose class certification. On September 21, 1994, the Court heard oral arguments from the parties who had submitted briefs and other counsel with an interest in this litigation.

Discussion

The Court has considered the arguments of the parties in interest to this litigation and the mandates of Rule 23. Deciding class certification at this time is difficult because this litigation is in its early stages with many key facts still undetermined. For example, the Plaintiffs favoring a class suggest that there may be as many as 176,000 potential plaintiffs, while the Defendant argues that the number will not exceed several hundred. Obviously, such a figure is important in deciding certification and difference of opinion of this issue makes a decision on class certification all the more complex.

Despite these complications, the Court is mandated by Rule 23(c)(1), to decide class certification “[a]s soon as is practicable.” The Court also notes that class certification may be modified as time goes on, Rule 23(e)(1), and that under Rule 23(c)(4)(A), class certification may be granted for particular issues. Considering these factors, and those discussed below, the Court concludes that a plaintiffs’ class should be certified for certain common issues.

I. The Existence of a Class.

Although the Court’s analysis of class certification is governed by Rule 23, the Rule itself assumes the existence of a class to be represented. Therefore, the Court must make a preliminary determination on the existence of a class in this litigation. Reed v. Bowen, 849 F.2d 1307 (10th Cir.1988).

The Court concludes that the existence of some sort of class is one of the few straightforward issues before it. The common underlying facts establishing a class can be seen even without a consideration of the merits of the Plaintiffs’ claims. It is undisputed that the Defendant’s Albuterol was sold throughout the United States and that some, perhaps four, batches of the product were contaminated. Although the exact number of individuals involved remains to be determined, it is certainly in the hundreds to low thousands. Those who have filed complaints thus far have made claims with essentially the same causes of action.

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Bluebook (online)
158 F.R.D. 485, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15791, 1994 WL 605613, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-copley-pharmaceutical-inc-wyd-1994.