IN RE BAUSCH & LOMB INC. CONTACTS LENS SOLUTION

• Decision Date: 17 February 2010
• Docket Number: MDL No. 1785. C/A No. 2:06-MN-77777-DCN.
• Citation: 693 F. Supp.2d 515
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina
• Parties: In re BAUSCH & LOMB INC. CONTACTS LENS SOLUTION PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION. This order relates to: Non-Fusarium keratitis personal injury cases.

693 F. Supp.2d 515

In re BAUSCH & LOMB INC. CONTACTS LENS SOLUTION PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION.

This order relates to: Non-Fusarium keratitis personal injury cases¹.

MDL No. 1785. C/A No. 2:06-MN-77777-DCN.

United States District Court, D. South Carolina, Charleston Division.

February 17, 2010.

David S. Ratner, Morelli Ratner, New York, NY, David Brian Rattliff, Bubalo Hiestand and Rotman, Louisville, KY, Ernest Cory, Cory Watson Crowder and Degaris, Mt. Brook, AL, Gedney M. Howe, III, Charleston, SC, Gordon Ball, Knoxville, TN, H. Blair Hahn, James L. Ward, Jr., Richardson Patrick Westbrook and Brickman, Mt. Pleasant, SC, Jennifer F. Sherrill, Federman and Sherwood, Oklahoma City, OK, Jesse Allen Kirchner, Thurmond Kirchner and Timbes PA, Charleston, SC, John Gressette Felder, Jr., McGowan Hood and Felder, Columbia, SC, John E. Mudd, John E. Mudd Law Offices, San Juan, PR, Karen Wedel Renwick, Walters Bender Strohbehn and Vaughan, Kansas City, MO, Lance A. Harke, Harke and Clasby, Miami, FL, Melissa Meeker Harnett, Wasserman Comden and Casselman, Tarzana, CA, Mitchell M. Breit, Hanly Conroy Bierstein Sheridan Fisher and Hayes, New York, NY, Natasha Cortes, Grossman Roth, Coral Gables, FL, Patrick N. Keegan, Keegan Macaluso and Baker, San Diego, CA, Robert G. Rikard, Robert Rikard Law Office, Columbia, SC, Daniel E. Becnel, Jr., Becnel Law Firm, Reserve, LA, Daniel R. Karon, Goldman Scarlato and Karon, Cleveland, OH, Kathleen B. Jennings, Stephen B. Crain, Bracewell and Giuliani, Houston, TX, Emilio F. Soler, Soler and Soler, San Juan, PR, for Plaintiff.

Eli Alan Poliakoff, Jane Thompson Davis, Michael Tucker Cole, Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, Charleston, SC, Jon A. Strongman, Marie S. Woodbury, Shook Hardy and Bacon, Kansas City, MO, Joseph J. Ortego, Nixon Peabody, Jericho, NY, James L. Ward, Jr., Richardson Patrick Westbrook and Brickman, Mt. Pleasant, SC, for Defendant.

Eric M. Quetglas, Quetglas Law Office, San Juan, PR, Gary E. Mason, Mason Law Firm, Washington, DC, for Bausch & Lomb Inc Contact Lens Solution Products Liability Litigation.

ORDER & OPINION

DAVID C. NORTON, Chief Judge.

This matter is currently before the court on defendant's motion for summary judgment on all claims and causes of action asserted by non-Fusarium plaintiffs.² With the exclusion of plaintiffs' causation expert regarding eye infections other than Fusarium keratitis, it has become clear that the remaining plaintiffs have no admissible evidence to support their allegation that defendant's Renu with MoistureLoc ("MoistureLoc") contact lens solution caused the eye infections they experienced. Consequently, these plaintiffs cannot prove an essential element in each of their cases. Therefore, and for the reasons set forth below, the court grants defendant's motion in part. However, as explained in the order, the following cases will remain under advisement: 07-1568 (Deliz-Velez), 06-3278 (Erickson), 06-3272 (Declet-Flores), 06-3273 (Garcia), and 06-3640 (Shallcross).

I. BACKGROUND

Each plaintiff whose personal injury case was consolidated to this MDL proceeding was required to submit a Plaintiff Fact Sheet, along with medical documentation demonstrating his or her use of MoistureLoc and the type of eye infection he or she allegedly experienced as a result of using MoistureLoc. As of the date of defendant's summary judgment motion, 348 plaintiffs had not submitted any documentation showing that they experienced a Fusarium keratitis infection. This order concerns these "non-Fusarium plaintiffs," who are residents of forty-two different states plus the territory of Puerto Rico.

The court established a schedule for the identification and deposition of expert witnesses. When the parties completed expert depositions in April 2009, Dr. Elisabeth Cohen was plaintiffs' sole general causation expert with respect to non-Fusarium infections. In May 2009, defendant moved to exclude Dr. Cohen's expert testimony pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 592, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993). After a joint hearing with the Supreme Court of the State of New York, the court granted defendant's motion in August 2009, excluding Dr. Cohen's general causation opinions relating to non-Fusarium infections.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Summary Judgment Standard

Summary judgment is appropriate when, after considering the full evidentiary record, there are no genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(c). When the party moving for summary judgment does not bear the ultimate burden of persuasion at trial, the burden for summary judgment may be discharged by pointing out to the court that there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The non-movant must then "make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Evidence should be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and all inferences drawn in its favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). However, a mere "scintilla" of evidence will not preclude summary judgment. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505.

B. General Causation

"Where a medical causal relation issue is not one within the common knowledge of the layman, proximate cause cannot be determined without expert medical testimony." Goewey v. United States, 886 F.Supp. 1268, 1279 (D.S.C.1995) (citation omitted). To establish medical causation in a product liability case, a plaintiff must show both general causation and specific causation. See Golden v. CH2M Hill Hanford Group, Inc., 528 F.3d 681, 683 (9th Cir.2008) (noting that, to survive summary judgment, plaintiff must show that he was exposed to chemicals that could have caused the physical injuries he complains about (general causation), and that his exposure did in fact result in those injuries (specific causation)).

"General causation is whether a substance is capable of causing a particular injury or condition in the general population, while specific causation is whether a substance caused a particular individual's injury." Knight v. Kirby Inland Marine Inc., 482 F.3d 347, 351 (5th Cir.2007) (citation omitted). "Evidence concerning specific causation in toxic tort cases is admissible only as a follow-up to admissible general-causation evidence." Id. (citing Raynor v. Merrell Pharm., 104 F.3d 1371, 1376 (D.C.Cir.1997)). As the Fifth Circuit explained,

Thus, there is a two-step process in examining the admissibility of causation evidence in toxic tort cases. First, the district court must determine whether there is general causation. Second, if it concludes that there is admissible general-causation evidence, the district court must determine whether there is admissible specific-causation evidence.

Id. (citation omitted); see Norris v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., 397 F.3d 878, 881 (10th Cir.2005) ("Plaintiff must first demonstrate general causation because without general causation, there can be no specific causation."). "If a plaintiff is not able to establish general causation, it is unnecessary to consider whether the plaintiff can establish specific causation." Dunn v. Sandoz Pharms. Corp., 275 F.Supp.2d 672, 676 (M.D.N.C.2003) (citing Raynor, 104 F.3d at 1376); see Mack v. AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp., 671 F.Supp.2d 706, 709-10 (D.Md.2009) (noting that proof of general causation is a prerequisite to proving specific causation).

Based on this well-established rule requiring proof of general causation, the non-Fusarium plaintiffs' claims cannot survive. Dr. Cohen, plaintiffs' only general causation expert, has been excluded. Defendants have provided, and the court has reviewed, summaries of the law on this issue in all the applicable jurisdictions. Based on these summaries and the court's own research, it appears that the concept of general causation as a necessary precursor to proving specific causation is the rule in all jurisdictions. See Mary Sue Henifin, Howard M. Kipen & Susan R. Poulter, Reference Guide on Medical Testimony, in REFERENCE MANUAL ON SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE 439, 444 (Fed.Jud.Ctr., 2d ed.2000). Consequently, plaintiffs' claims cannot survive given the court's Daubert ruling excluding Dr. Cohen's testimony.

Plaintiffs respond that, as their previously filed motion for partial summary judgment shows, MoistureLoc is defective.³ This, however, is irrelevant. Plaintiffs must prove defect and causation. See Hunter v. Philip Morris USA, 582 F.3d 1039, 1045 (9th Cir.2009); Little v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 243 F.Supp.2d 480, 489 (D.S.C.2001). A complete failure of proof on either element is a fatal blow to plaintiffs' claims. Without Dr. Cohen's testimony, plaintiffs simply cannot prove general causation.

Plaintiffs also argue that, the exclusion of their general causation expert notwithstanding, individual plaintiffs may be able to prove causation through physicians' differential diagnoses. "A differential diagnosis, which courts have recognized as a reliable methodology when conducted properly, `is a standard scientific technique of identifying the cause of a medical problem by eliminating the likely causes until the most probable one is isolated.'" Foster v. Legal Sea Foods, Inc., 2008 WL 2945561, at *10 (D.Md.2008) (quoting Westberry v. Gislaved Gummi AB, 178 F.3d 257, 262 (4th Cir.1999)). "To be reliable, a differential diagnosis must first `rule in' a plaintiff's proposed cause and then `rule out' alternative causes." Id. (citing Westberry, 178 F.3d at 263). "`Ruling in' a cause, also known as proving `general causation', `is established by demonstrating that exposure to a substance can cause a particular...