In re OxyContin

15 Misc. 3d 388
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 19, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 15 Misc. 3d 388 (In re OxyContin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re OxyContin, 15 Misc. 3d 388 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Joseph J. Maltese, J.

This court denies the defendants’ motion to dismiss 924 out-of-state plaintiffs from the 1,117 OxyContin drug cases that have been filed as part of the coordinated products liability actions because New York is an inconvenient forum in which to conduct discovery and ultimately jury trials.

However, the 924 non-New York plaintiffs shall post security for the potential costs that may be awarded the defendants in the event that they are unsuccessful in their actions, pursuant to Civil Practice Law and Rules § 8501.

Facts

On January 24, 2005, this court denied the plaintiffs application to certify a class action on behalf of the plaintiffs, all prescribed users of the pain reliever drug, OxyContin. (See, Hurtado v Purdue Pharma Co., 6 Misc 3d 1015[A], 2005 NY Slip Op 50045[U] [Sup Ct, Richmond County 2005].) While this court found some common issues of law and fact, it denied the plaintiffs a class action pursuant to CPLR 901-902 because the various plaintiffs were legally prescribed the pain reliever, Oxy-Contin, by different physicians for different physical conditions ranging from back pain, postsurgical pain and lymphoma. The plaintiffs claimed that they were not warned that OxyContin could be addictive when taken as directed and each claimed that they could become addicted to the drug.

CPLR 901 (a) which is similar, but not identical, to rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure lists the prerequisites to a class action which include whether there is a sufficient number of claims that would be joined, which was never contested. However, CPLR 901 (a) also requires that the common questions of law or fact predominate over any questions affecting only individual members. Here, the factual reasons surrounding the prescription for and the administration of the drug varied from plaintiff to plaintiff and, consequently, the requirement of commonality was not met.

Moreover, New York employs the “Informed Intermediary Doctrine,” whereby the prescribing physician acts as an “informed intermediary” between the manufacturer and the [390]*390patient. The manufacturer issues warnings with the drug, which are typically found in the Physician’s Desk Reference and as inserts in the packaged drug. Whether adequate warnings are given to the patient from the physician is an individual issue with each patient and physician and is thereby not common to all members of the proposed class of prescribed drug users.

Moreover, the requirement that the results are “typical” was also not met in that each plaintiff had a different injury ranging from sexual dysfunction to nightmares, to symptoms of withdrawal and social ineptitude. In short, no typical injury or signature disease, such as mesothelioma or asbestosis from prolonged exposure to asbestos had been claimed.

While realizing that there were some common issues of fact and law, which could more efficiently be handled in the discovery process, this court forwarded the case to the New York Litigation Coordinating Panel pursuant to Uniform Rules for Trial Courts (22 NYCRR) § 202.69 for further disposition.

On July 8, 2005 the New York Litigation Coordinating Panel directed that to promote efficiency, all of the OxyContin cases pending in the various counties of New York and those to be later filed in New York shall be coordinated for discovery and pretrial matters in the Supreme Court of Richmond County wherein Justice Joseph J. Maltese was assigned as the coordinating judge.

On August 26, 2005, counsel for plaintiffs filed 1,000 individual cases by summons and complaint against the Purdue Pharma Company, Purdue Pharma, L.P, Purdue Pharma, Inc., the Purdue Frederick Company, Inc. and the Purdue Frederick Laboratories, Inc. Thereafter, the plaintiffs filed an additional 117 individual cases against the same defendants. However, as a result of a national legal advertising campaign by plaintiffs’ counsel to solicit potential claimants, the plaintiffs were not all New York residents. Nine hundred and twenty-four of the 1,177 plaintiffs resided in virtually all of the states of the nation, as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom.

The plaintiffs’ counsel are comprised of three law firms acting in concert: two are New York law firms and one is an Illinois law firm, Simmons Cooper, LLC, which has verbally requested that Tor A. Hoerman, Esq., Gary L. Payne, Esq., and John A. Brueger, Esq., of that firm all lie admitted pro hoc vice, for these cases, which, without objection, this court grants. The lead firm for the plaintiffs is Hanly Conroy Bierstein & Sheridan, LLP of New York City, along with local Richmond County [391]*391counsel of John D’Amato, Esq., of the law firm of Russo, Scamardella & D’Amato. Ml of the defendants are represented by Chadbourne & Park, LLP of New York City, with local Richmond County counsel of Harold Siegel, Esq.

On December 29, 2005, this court issued an order wherein all 1,117 pending coordinated actions, together with any other similar actions filed thereafter, shall be captioned collectively for purposes of handling common issues and shall be known as “In Re OxyContin under Index No. 700,000/2005.” On March 31, 2006 this court issued case management order No. 1 to govern discovery and other matters.

Oral argument was had with reference to the instant motions to dismiss 924 out-of-state plaintiffs from the 1,117 coordinated matters before this court on the basis that this court is an inconvenient forum to hear the out-of-state plaintiffs’ cases pursuant to CPLR 327 and appellate case law. This court also reviewed the arguments to fix security for costs to be given by the out-of-state plaintiffs pursuant to CPLR 8501.

Discussion

The defendants do not contest the jurisdiction of this court for any of the 1,117 plaintiffs. The defendants argued that the plaintiffs and their doctors are not located in New York and hence, there is no nexus to this state. Moreover, the subpoena power of this court to order that medical records be produced or depositions be taken from those out-of-state doctors would be cumbersome, perhaps requiring a commission seeking the assistance of a sister state court.

The plaintiffs responded that the alternative to using commissions for those doctors who are not sued in these cases, but who refused to comply, to dismiss these 924 cases is too extreme. The plaintiffs’ primary reason is that dismissal in this court would start litigation anew in numerous other forums which would be far more cumbersome. Morever, plaintiffs argue that the defendants are disingenuous in their arguments that there are other more convenient forums in which to handle these non-New York plaintiffs. The defendants argued and won in two applications before the Federal Multi-District Court Panel (MDL) that the OxyContin cases not be coordinated before a federal district court judge. In addition, many of these cases may already be time-barred in their home state courts should this court grant the defendants’ application to dismiss them, only to start anew in their home states or a federal district court.

[392]*392New York is the state wherein the defendants are incorporated. The defendant, Purdue Frederick Company, was founded, incorporated and headquartered in New York.

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Related

In re OxyContin
23 Misc. 3d 974 (New York Supreme Court, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
15 Misc. 3d 388, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-oxycontin-nysupct-2007.