Handy v. Box Hill Surgery Ctr., LLC (In re New Eng. Compounding Pharmacy, Inc.)
Handy v. Box Hill Surgery Ctr., LLC (In re New Eng. Compounding Pharmacy, Inc.)
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION
Plaintiffs are the surviving family members and estate of Brenda Lee Rozek. Ms. *272Rozek died on September 16, 2012, sixteen days after defendant Dr. Ritu T. Bhambani treated her with contaminated methylprednisolone acetate ("MPA") ordered from New England Compounding Center ("NECC"). All of the underlying events occurred in Maryland, where Ms. Rozek resided, Dr. Bhambani practiced and where this action was originally filed.
Plaintiffs allege that Dr. Bhambani and her co-defendants owed Ms. Rozek a duty of care based on the physician-patient relationship, and that defendants breached that duty by, inter alia, bulk-ordering MPA from NECC using false patient names and failing to investigate the safety of NECC's products.
Defendants move for partial summary judgment on: (i) certain aspects of the negligence claims (Count I); (ii) the consumer protection claims (Count XII); and (iii) plaintiffs' requests for punitive damages.
I. Legal Standard
Summary judgment is appropriate when the moving party "shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). "An issue is 'genuine' for purposes of summary judgment if 'the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party,' and a 'material fact' is one which 'might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law.' " Poulis-Minott v. Smith,
II. Analysis
The court addresses each of defendants' arguments in turn.
Defendants move for summary judgment on sub-issues related to plaintiffs' negligence claims. They argue, first, that conducting "due diligence" prior to purchasing MPA from NECC was not within the scope of the duty they owed to plaintiffs; second, that their failure to order MPA using patient-specific prescriptions did not cause Ms. Rozek's death; and third, that the conduct of NECC and/or NECC president Barry Cadden was a superseding or intervening cause of Ms. Rozek's death, thereby relieving them of liability.
Contrary to defendants' benign view of the evidence, disputed factual matters pervade these issues, each of which presents a classic question for the jury. See Valentine v. On Target, Inc.,
B. Massachusetts Consumer Protection Claim
Defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs' Massachusetts consumer protection claim is allowed. Massachusetts law does not govern this case. It involves exclusively Maryland parties. Moreover, defendants' alleged tortious conduct and plaintiffs' harm occurred entirely in Maryland. See Mear v. Sun Life Assur. Co. of Canada (U.S.)/Keyport Life Ins. Co., No. CIV.A.06-12143RWZ,
The parties agree that, under Maryland law, plaintiffs must prove "actual malice" as a prerequisite to a punitive damages award. See Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. Zenobia,
III. Conclusion
Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket # 3511) is ALLOWED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Specifically, *274it is ALLOWED as to Count XII and as to plaintiffs' requests for punitive damages, and it is DENIED as to Count I.
This briefly summarizes facts relevant to the present motion. A detailed account of the background of the case, including the multidistrict litigation, is set forth in previous opinions of the court. See e.g., In re New Eng. Compounding Pharm., Inc. Prods. Liability Litig.,
Defendants also move for summary judgment with respect to plaintiffs' demand for medical expenses. As the court informed the parties at oral argument, that issue will be addressed at the pretrial conference. This part of the motion is denied without prejudice.
Plaintiffs argue for the first time in a Notice of Supplemental Authority that Massachusetts law applies to the question of punitive damages. See Docket No. 3514. They cite a Maryland wrongful death statute directing the court to apply the law of the jurisdiction where the "wrongful act" occurred. See
In their post-hearing brief, plaintiffs' pivot from their choice-of-law argument and instead contend that punitive damages are justified under Maryland law based on defendants' alleged fraudulent conduct in that state. See Docket No. 3519 at 305. This argument also fails. Maryland law is clear that fraud is subsumed under actual malice. Garcia v. Foulger Pratt Dev., Inc.,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE: NEW ENGLAND COMPOUNDING PHARMACY, INC. PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION This Order Applies to: Handy v. Box Hill Surgery Center, LLC
- Status
- Published