Traveler's Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Actavis, Inc.

225 Cal. Rptr. 3d 5, 16 Cal. App. 5th 1026
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedNovember 6, 2017
DocketG053749
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 225 Cal. Rptr. 3d 5 (Traveler's Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Actavis, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Traveler's Prop. Cas. Co. of Am. v. Actavis, Inc., 225 Cal. Rptr. 3d 5, 16 Cal. App. 5th 1026 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

FYBEL, J.

*1029INTRODUCTION

The United States faces an epidemic of addiction, overdosing, death, and other problems brought on by the increasing use and abuse of opioid painkillers. This epidemic has placed a financial strain on state and local *1030governments dealing with the epidemic's health and safety consequences. To seek redress for the opioid epidemic, the County of Santa Clara and the County of Orange brought a lawsuit (the California Action) against various pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors, including the appellants in this matter.1 The California Action alleges Watson engaged in a "common, sophisticated, and highly deceptive marketing campaign" designed to expand the market and increase sales of opioid products by promoting them for treating long-term chronic, nonacute, and noncancer pain-a purpose for which Watson allegedly knew its opioid products were not suited. The City of Chicago brought a lawsuit in Illinois (the Chicago Action) making essentially the same allegations.

The issue presented by this appeal is whether there is insurance coverage for Watson based on the allegations made in the California Action and the Chicago Action. Specifically, do the Travelers Property Casualty Company of America (Travelers Insurance) and St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (St. Paul)2 owe Watson a duty to defend those lawsuits pursuant to commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policies issued to Watson?

Travelers denied Watson's demand for a defense and brought this lawsuit to obtain a declaration that Travelers had no duty to defend or indemnify. The trial court, following a bench trial based on stipulated facts, found that Travelers had no duty to defend because the injuries alleged were not the result of an accident within the meaning of the insurance policies and the claims alleged fell within a policy exclusion for the insured's products and for warranties and representations made about those products.

We conclude that Travelers has no duty to defend Watson under the policies and therefore affirm. The policies cover damages *10for bodily injury caused by an "accident," a term which has been interpreted to exclude the insured's deliberate acts unless the injury was caused by some additional, unexpected, independent, and unforeseen happening. The California Action and the Chicago Action do not create a potential for liability for an accident because they are based, and can only be read as being based, on the deliberate and intentional conduct of Watson that produced injuries-including a resurgence in heroin use-that were neither unexpected nor unforeseen. In addition, all of the injuries allegedly arose out of Watson's products or the alleged statements and misrepresentations made about those products, and therefore fall within the products exclusions in the policies. *1031FACTS

I.

The Policies

A. The St. Paul Policies

Watson purchased primary CGL policies from St. Paul covering the period from May 15, 2006 to May 15, 2010 (the St. Paul Policies). The St. Paul Policies provide a duty to defend against any "suit for injury or damage covered by this agreement ... even if all of the allegations of the claim or suit are groundless, false, or fraudulent." The St. Paul Policies cover "damages for covered bodily injury or property damage" that are "caused by an event." The term "Event" is defined as an "accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions." The term "bodily injury" is defined as "any physical harm, including sickness or disease, to the physical health of other persons."

The St. Paul Policies have an exclusion for "Products and Completed Work," stating, "[w]e won't cover bodily injury or property damage that results from your products or completed work." The St. Paul Policies include, within the definition of excluded products, "any statement made, or that should have been made, about the durability, fitness, handling, maintenance, operation, performance, quality, safety or use of the products."

B. The Travelers Policies

Watson purchased primary CGL policies from Travelers Insurance covering the period from May 15, 2010 to May 15, 2013 (the Travelers Policies). The Travelers Policies provide a duty to defend against any "suit" seeking damages "because of 'bodily injury' or 'property damage' " caused by an "occurrence." The Travelers Policies define "occurrence" in the same way as "event" is defined in the St. Paul Policies, that is, as an "accident, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same general harmful conditions." The Travelers Policies define "bodily injury" as "[p]hysical harm, including sickness or disease, sustained by a person; or ... [m]ental anguish, injury or illness, or emotional distress, resulting at any time from such physical harm, sickness or disease." The Travelers Policies provide that "damages because of 'bodily injury' include damages claimed by any person or organization for care, loss of services or death resulting at any time from 'bodily injury.' "

The Travelers Policies have an exclusion for "Products-Completed Operations Hazard-Medical and Biotechnology," which bars coverage for " 'Bodily *1032injury' or 'Property damage' included in the 'products-completed operations hazard.' " We will refer to the Products and Completed Work provision of the St. Paul Policies and the Products-Completed Operations Hazard-Medical and Biotechnology provision of the Travelers Policies as "the Products *11Exclusions." The term "products-completed operations hazard" is defined to include "all 'bodily injury' and 'property damage' occurring away from premises owned by or rented or loaned to you and arising out of 'your product' or 'your work.' " The term "your product" is defined as "[a]ny goods or products ... manufactured, sold, handled, distributed or disposed of by: [¶] ... [y]ou." The term "your work" is defined to mean: "Warranties or representations made at any time, or that should have been made, with respect to the fitness, quality, durability, performance, handling, maintenance, operation, safety, or use of such goods or products."

II.

The California Action and the Chicago Action

In May 2014, Santa Clara County and Orange County (the Counties) filed the California Action against Watson3 and other pharmaceutical companies in the California Superior Court, Orange County. In December 2014, the Counties filed a second amended complaint (the California Complaint), which is the operative pleading in the California Action. In June 2014, the City of Chicago (the City) brought the Chicago Action against Watson and other prescription drug distributors in Cook County, Illinois. The Chicago Action was removed to federal court.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
225 Cal. Rptr. 3d 5, 16 Cal. App. 5th 1026, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travelers-prop-cas-co-of-am-v-actavis-inc-calctapp5d-2017.