Stevens v. Boston Scientific Corp.

152 F. Supp. 3d 527, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8728, 2016 WL 328739
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. West Virginia
DecidedJanuary 26, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 2:16-cv-00265
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 152 F. Supp. 3d 527 (Stevens v. Boston Scientific Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stevens v. Boston Scientific Corp., 152 F. Supp. 3d 527, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8728, 2016 WL 328739 (S.D.W. Va. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

JOSEPH R. GOODWIN, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Pending before the court is the plaintiffs Class Action Complaint [ECF No. 1] (“Complaint!’) and Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [ECF No. 4]. For the reasons detailed below, the eourt applies the doctrine of primary jurisdiction to this matter and REFERS the issues discussed herein to the United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for initial consideration of the allegations contained in the plaintiffs Complaint and Motion.

I. Procedural History and Background

The plaintiff filed the Complaint on January 12, 2016, ’ against Boston Scientific Corporation (“Boston Scientific”) and other entities and alleges'various claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act,1 and West Virginia common law. Also on Janu[530]*530ary 12, 2016, the plaintiff filed a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction. On January 13, 2016, the court entered an Order [EOF No. 14] denying the plaintiffs Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order. The plaintiff filed a Motion fob Expedited Hearing on Preliminary Injunction and Request to Shorten Time for Any Opposition [EOF No. 16]. On January 15, 2016, the court entered an Order [EOF No. 20] setting a briefing schedule regarding the plaintiffs Motion for Expedited Hearing. On January 19, 2016, the court entered an Order [EOF No. 26] requiring the parties to brief the applicability of the doctrine of primary jurisdiction to this case by noon on January 20, 2016. The parties filed briefs, and the court now considers the matter.

While the factual ■ allegations made by the plaintiff against Boston Scientific are numerous, the court will review only those allegations relevant to the application of the doctrine of primary jurisdiction.2 The plaintiff filed this action pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on behalf of herself and a putative class of similarly situated individuals who were implanted with Boston Scientific’s transvagi-nal mesh products after. September 2012. Compl. ¶ 1.

Boston Scientific manufactures and markets transvaginal mesh, which is a permanently implantable medical device. Compl. ¶ 10. . According to the plaintiff, each year approximately 55,000 women receive a Boston Scientific mesh implant. Id. Advantage mesh, which Boston Scientific uses for all of its transvaginal mesh products, is subject to regulation by the FDA. Id. The plaintiff alleges Advantage mesh is made from Marlex HGX-030-1 (“Marlex”), a specific and unique polypropylene, and the device was cleared by the FDA under its 510(k) clearance process for medical devices. Id. The plaintiff alleges that, if Boston Scientific used anything other than Marlex to form-.its mesh,. “the ■ product would not be Advantage mesh, as approved by the FDA.” Id. - ■

Marlex is manufactured in pellet form by a joint venture between the Chevron Corporation and Phillips Sumika Polypropylene Company (“Phillips”) in LaPorte, Texas, Compl, ¶ 10. The plaintiff alleges Phillips decided to discontinue selling Mar-lex to Boston Scientific, so Boston Scientific began to run out of Marlex in 2011. Id. ¶11. According to. the plaintiff, Boston Scientific resorted to smuggling counterfeit Marlex pellets out of China, into Belgium and, ultimately, into the United States in an effort to obtain the necessary material. Id. Allegedly, this “smuggling” occurred: from June 2011 through the fall of 2012. Id.

The plaintiff alleges that she and the putative class members were permanently implanted with a counterfeit, adulterated product that, was not approved by the FDA under Boston Scientific’s original 510(k) application and clearance. Id. ¶¶15, 18. The plaintiff also alleges that Boston Scientific believed the FDA would likely not clear the use of a mesh made of material other than Marlex under its original 510(k) clearance. Id. ¶24: Further, the plaintiff alleges serious safety concerns Surround this “counterfeit” Marlex resin because little is known of its provenance and testing. See id. ¶¶ 59-67.

The plaintiff emphasizes the potential seriousness of the safety concerns associated with the possibility that medical devices manufactured by Boston Scientific contain harmful, adulterated, and counterfeit resin in her Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order and a Preliminary Injunction. [531]*531In the Motion, the plaintiff largely repeats many of the factual allegations contained in the Complaint. See Pl.’s Mot. TRO & Prelim. Inj. The plaintiff argues she and the putative class members all over the country need to make informed decisions about whether to have mesh implanted or have the device removed and that such personal, medical decisions directly relate to their continued safety. . Pl.’s Mem. Supp. Mot. TRO & Prelim. Inj. ¶72 [EOF No. 6], The plaintiff claims the alleged counterfeit mesh “is not some .defective headlamp on a Ford pickup .... This Counterfeit Product, smuggled by Boston Scientific out of China from a known counterfeiter, is a medical device (subject to FDA regulation) that is permanently implanted into the most intimate part of a woman’s body.” Id. ¶74. Further, the plaintiff alleges “[tjhere is no doubt that the public health is at issue here.” Id. ¶75. Finally, the plaintiff alleges “[t]he FDA, too, deserves to know the true history behind Boston Scientific’s Counterfeit Product, and how it came into the United States without certificates of authenticity, proper provenance, or adequate testing.” Id.

II. Legal Standard

A. Introduction to the Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction

The doctrine of primary jurisdiction is a judicially created doctrine that was first invoked by the United States Supreme Court at the beginning of the twentieth century. See Tex. & Pac. Ry. v. Abilene Cotton Oil Co., 204 U.S. 426, 27 S.Ct. 350, 51 L.Ed. 553 (1907); see also Nicholas A. Lucchetti, Note, One Hundred Years of the Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction: But What Standard of Review is Appropriate for It?, 59 Admin. L.Rev. 849, 854 (2007). “Under the -doctrine of primary jurisdiction a court can refer a technical or factual issue to an administrative agency for expert determination.” James W. Hilliard, Tapping Agency Expertise: The Doctrine of Primary Jurisdiction, 96 Ill. B.J. 256, 256 (2008). “The development of the primary jurisdiction doctrine is a function of the judiciary’s recognition that the adjudicatory authority of regulatory agencies will inevitably overlap with the jurisdiction of traditional judicial courts.” Paula K. Knippa, Note, Primary Jurisdiction Doctrine and the Circumforaneous Litigant, 85 Tex. L.Rev. 1289, 1290 (2007). “The doctrine of primary jurisdiction, like the rule requiring exhaustion of administrative remedies, is concerned with promoting proper relationships between the courts and administrative agencies charged with particular' regulatory duties.” United States v. W. Pac. R.R. Co.,

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152 F. Supp. 3d 527, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8728, 2016 WL 328739, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stevens-v-boston-scientific-corp-wvsd-2016.