Payton v. Abbott Labs

83 F.R.D. 382, 28 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 295, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10715
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJuly 30, 1979
DocketCiv. A. No. 76-1514-S
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 83 F.R.D. 382 (Payton v. Abbott Labs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Payton v. Abbott Labs, 83 F.R.D. 382, 28 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 295, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10715 (D. Mass. 1979).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER ON CLASS CERTIFICATION

SKINNER, District Judge.

The plaintiffs’ motion for certification of a plaintiff class is conditionally ALLOWED to the extent and in the manner that I describe below. Their motion for certification of a defendant class is DENIED.

[386]*386The plaintiff class includes all women:

1) who were exposed to diethylstilbestrol (“DES”) in útero;

2) whose exposure occurred in Massachusetts;

3) who were born in Massachusetts;

4) who are domiciled in Massachusetts when they receive notice of this action; and

5) who have not developed uterine or vaginal cancer.1

The plaintiff class is conditionally certified under Rule 23(c)(4)(A), F.R.Civ.P., to permit resolution of these issues:

1) whether, in the circumstances alleged in this action, fear and anguish are, under Massachusetts law, compensable injuries;

2) whether, in the circumstances alleged in this action, having been put at an increased risk of developing cancer is, under Massachusetts law, a compensable injury;

3) whether, if without DES a class member would not have been born, she may, under Massachusetts law, maintain an action for injury from exposure to DES;

4) whether and when, in the circumstances alleged in this action, Massachusetts has recognized a cause of action for injury to a fetus;

5) whether and when the defendants were negligent in manufacturing and marketing DES for use by pregnant women to prevent miscarriages;

6) whether, under Massachusetts law, the defendants may be held strictly liable to the plaintiffs;

7) whether, under Massachusetts law, the defendants may be held absolutely liable to the plaintiffs for having allegedly tested DES on them without their consents;

8) whether a private right of action exists under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 301, 331, and 352;

9) whether and when, in producing, marketing, and promoting DES as a miscarriage preventative, the defendants engaged in a joint enterprise;

10) whether and when the defendants combined and conspired in their acts and omissions relating to DES;

[387]*38711) whether, if the defendants did not combine, conspire, or engage in a joint enterprise, a defendant may be held liable to a class member who cannot identify the maker of the DES to which she was exposed;

12) whether and for what periods claims of plaintiff class members under the foregoing theories of liability are barred by statutes of limitations; and

13) whether and for what periods statutes of limitations bar claims for:

a) breach of express warranties and representations;

b) breach of implied warranties of fitness, safety, and efficacy; and

c) fraudulent misrepresentation.

I. Certification of the plaintiff class

A. The prerequisites of Rule 23(a)

Before a class action may be maintained under Rule 23, it must meet the prerequisites of Rule 23(a) and one set of the alternative requirements in Rule 23(b). The plaintiffs bear the burden of demonstrating that a class action is appropriate. Shaw v. Mobil Oil Corporation, 60 F.R.D. 566, 568 (D.N.H.1973).

1. Numerosity

Rule 23(a)(1) requires that the members of a class in a class action be “so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.” Surveys and estimates in the medical literature lead the plaintiffs to conclude that women in the United States who were exposed to DES in útero number between 500,000 and 2,000,000. Multiplying those figures by the percentage of the national population in Massachusetts, the plaintiffs estimate that the number of women in Massachusetts who were exposed to DES in útero is between 13,350 and 53,400. Memorandum Supporting Certification of the Plaintiff and Defendant Class Actions, Exhibit B at 2-8. Geographic differences in the use of DES suggest that this final range is conservative. Id. at 5 n.4.

The plaintiffs also contacted some 25 medical projects, clinics, and practitioners in the greater Boston area treating or monitoring women who were exposed in útero to DES.. Their search revealed a minimum of 2,339 readily identifiable women whose medical histories allegedly document exposure to DES (at least 1,441 of the total), or who believe on the basis of other evidence that they were exposed to DES (a maximum of 748, of whom some may have documentary evidence), or who show symptoms of DES exposure (at most 150, of whom some believe that they were exposed to DES).

The defendants do not contest the plaintiffs’ showing of numerosity. I recognize that the plaintiffs’ figures do not isolate plaintiff class members from the larger group of women in Massachusetts who were exposed to DES in útero. Even so, the magnitude of the plaintiffs’ initial showing, 13,350 to 53,400 girls and women, makes it likely that the plaintiff class is so numerous that joinder of its members would be impracticable.

2. Commonality

Rule 23(a)(2) states that a class action may be maintained “[only if] . there are questions of law or fact common to the class.” The issues which this class action is designed to resolve meet that requirement.

If the plaintiffs win favorable determinations on the class issues, they will not have proved the defendants’ liability to class members, but they will have established legal and factual prerequisites to it. Answers to common questions need not guarantee a determination of liability. Rule 23(c)(4)(A) explicitly authorizes class actions “with respect to particular issues.”

3. Typicality

Rule 23(a)(3) requires that, in a class action, the “claims or defenses of the representative parties” be “typical of the claims or defenses of the class.” With regard to the issues for which this class action has been conditionally certified, the claims and defenses of the named plaintiffs are typical of those of the class.

[388]*388The Second Amended Complaint filed on July 15, 1976 listed named plaintiffs ranging then in age from eight to 29. The range and distribution of their ages make clear that they will fairly represent the class with respect to varying statutes of limitations and changes in substantive law which occurred over the period in which DES was marketed. Cf. 7 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1764 (1972 & 1979 Supp.) (“varying fact patterns” do not preclude typicality; “same legal or remedial theory” sufficient); 3B Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 23.06-2 (1978).

There may be periods of legal significance in which no named plaintiff was exposed to DES.

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Bluebook (online)
83 F.R.D. 382, 28 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 295, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10715, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/payton-v-abbott-labs-mad-1979.