MEDICAL BUYERS GROUP LLC v. PENCE

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATHENS DIVISION MEDICAL BUYERS GROUP, LLC, D/B/A INTEGRITY Plaintiff, v. CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:25-cv-00105-TES CANDICE PENCE, et al., Defendants.

ORDER DENYING MOTION TO DISMISS AS MOOT

Before Plaintiff Medical Buyers Group, LLC, d/b/a Integrity filed its Amended Complaint [Doc. 26], Defendant P4 Biologix, LLC (“P4 Biologix”) filed a Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 22] the original Complaint [Doc. 1].

Under black letter federal law, “an amended complaint supersedes the initial complaint and becomes the operative pleading in the case.” Lowery v. Ala. Power Co., 483 F.3d 1184, 1219 (11th Cir. 2007) (citations omitted). This means that “the original pleading is abandoned by the amendment, and is no longer a part of the pleader’s averments against [its] adversary.” Dresdner Bank AG v. M/V Olympia Voyager, 463 F.3d 1210, 1215 (11th Cir. 2006) (citation omitted); see also Hoefling v. City of Miami, 811 F.3d 1271, 1277 (11th Cir. 2016) (initial pleading “bec[o]me[s] a legal nullity”). Further, an original complaint would still have legal effect if “the amendment specifically refers to or adopts the earlier pleading.” Varnes v. Local 91, Glass Bottle Blowers Ass’n, 674 F.2d 1365, 1370 n.6 (11th Cir. 1982) (citation omitted). An amended complaint that does not incorporate the prior pleading, however, “supersedes the original complaint, and therefore renders moot a motion to dismiss the original complaint.” Teramore Dev., LLC v. Lowndes Cnty., Ga., No. 7:23-cv-39-WLS, 2023 WL 6960363 at *1 (M.D. Ga. Oct. 20, 2023) (citing cases).

The Court has reviewed Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint and found no reference to, or adoption of, any allegations set forth in its original Complaint. In fact, Plaintiff states in the Amended Complaint that “[t]his amendment . . . supersedes the original complaint in its entirety.” [Doc. 26, p. 1]. Therefore, Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint is the sole operative pleading in this case and renders moot P4 Biologix’s pending Motion to Dismiss. Accordingly, the Court DENIES P4 Biologix’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 22] as moot.

SO ORDERED, this 18th day of September, 2025.

S/ Tilman E. Self, III TILMAN E. SELF, III, JUDGE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT