United States: Be Careful What You Ask For

Today's post is an update to our post from just a few weeks ago regarding McWilliams v. Novartis AG, No. 2:17-CV-14302 (S.D. Fla.). At that time, the court denied summary judgment on plaintiff's failure to warn claims, but applying New Jersey law dismissed plaintiff's claim for punitive damages. Since the case involves an FDA-approved prescription drug, having found that New Jersey law applied to the punitive damages claim, the decision to dismiss seems very straightforward to us because according to the New Jersey Products Liability Act ("NJPLA"):

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:58C-5. But plaintiff didn't think that was where the story should end, so she filed a motion for reconsideration. Look before you leap. Be careful what you ask for. You don't always get what you want. Whatever adage you want to use, the bottom line is still no punitive damages.

Plaintiff's argument was solely focused on the exception to the NJPLA's ban on punitive damages for prescription drugs. That exception says that the prohibition on punitive damages does not apply "where the product manufacturer knowingly withheld or misrepresented information required to be submitted under the agency's regulations, which information was material and relevant to the harm in question." N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:58C-5. In its decision last month, the court held that plaintiff had not argued that the exception applies and so the court did not have to address it. McWilliams v. Novartis AG, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 113862, *22 n.3 (S.D. Fla. Jul. 9, 2018).

In her motion for reconsideration, plaintiff pointed to a footnote in her opposition to the motion for summary judgment in which she did argue that she had adduced evidence of information withheld from or misrepresented to the FDA that made whether the exception applied a triable issue of fact. McWilliams v. Novartis AG, 2018 WL 3637083, *2 (Jul. 31, 2018). That footnote also stated plaintiff's belief that "punitive damages under New Jersey law are not preempted." Id. (citations omitted).

The court agreed that it had not considered plaintiff's argument regarding the punitive damages exception and so granted plaintiff's request to consider it. Id. And upon considering it, promptly concluded that it was indeed preempted.

If we're talking about a misrepresentation to the FDA, we're talking about fraud-on-the-FDA, so we're talking about Buckman. It feels like a direct line to us. An express even. No stops, twists, turns, or curves. The exception to the punitive damages ban in the NJPLA is a fraud-on-the-FDA claim and Buckman says those are not allowed. The federal circuit courts that have considered the issue (in the context of similar provisions of Michigan and Texas law) are split with the Fifth and Sixth Circuits finding the exception preempted and the Second Circuit not. Compare Garcia v. Wyeth-Ayerst Labs., 385 F.3d 961 (6th Cir. 2004) and Lofton v. McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, 672 F.3d 372 (5th Cir. 2012) with Desiano v. Warner-Lambert & Co., 467 F.3d 85 (2d Cir. 2006), aff'd by equally divided court, 552 U.S. 440 (2008). We discuss the split in more detail here, and we're guessing we don't need to tell you on which side of the issue we come down.

Fortunately the court in this case was persuaded that the punitive damages exception is "substantially the same" as fraud-on-the-FDA and therefore preempted by Buckman – noting that that was in fact the position of the majority of courts to have considered the issue. McWilliams, 2018 WL 3637083, *3. Another notch on the Garcia/Lofton side of the divide.

This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.