Feldman v. Lederle Laboratories, a Div. of American Cyanamid Co.

Decision Date24 July 1991
Citation125 N.J. 117,592 A.2d 1176
Parties, 60 USLW 2117, Prod.Liab.Rep. (CCH) P 12,877 Carol Ann FELDMAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LEDERLE LABORATORIES, A DIVISION OF AMERICAN CYANAMID COMPANY, a Maine corporation doing business in the State of New Jersey, Defendant-Respondent.
CourtNew Jersey Supreme Court

James I. Peck, IV, West Orange, for appellant.

William C. Slattery, Somerville, for respondent (Morgan, Melhuish, Monaghan, Arvidson, Abrutyn & Lisowski, Livingston, and Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, attorneys; William C. Slattery, Somerville, and James L. Melhuish, of counsel, Livingston).

Marc S. Klein, for amici curiae Pharmaceutical Mfrs. Ass'n, Livingston and E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. (Sills, Cummis, Zuckerman, Radin, Tischman, Epstein & Gross, attorneys), Newark.

John L. McGoldrick, submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae Eli Lilly and Co. (McCarter & English, attorneys), Newark.

The opinion of the Court was delivered by

CLIFFORD, J.

In Feldman v. Lederle Laboratories, 97 N.J. 429, 479 A.2d 374 (1984) (Feldman I), we held that under the doctrine of strict products liability, "drug manufacturers have a duty to warn of dangers of which they know or should have known on the basis of reasonably obtainable or available knowledge." Id. at 434, 479 A.2d 374. At the retrial following our remand, plaintiff argued that Declomycin, an antibiotic manufactured by defendant, Lederle Laboratories (Lederle), had permanently turned her teeth gray, and that the drug had been defective during the years 1960 to 1963 (the time she had used it) because it had lacked a warning that its ingestion by young children might result in tooth staining. Defendant attempted to show that relevant federal statutes and regulations had precluded it from performing its state-law duty to warn, and asserted that it could not be held liable for doing that which the federal law had compelled. The trial court rejected that argument and submitted to the jury plaintiff's strict-liability claim based on failure to warn. On the basis of its finding that Declomycin had not been defective in either 1960 or 1961 but that it had been defective in 1962 and 1963, the jury found in favor of plaintiff and awarded her $300,000.

The Appellate Division, concluding that "the theory of liability which undergirded the jury verdict against Lederle was preempted by federal law," 234 N.J.Super. 559, 564, 561 A.2d 288 (1989), reversed and remanded the case for entry of judgment in favor of defendant. We granted plaintiff's petition for certification, 122 N.J. 348, 585 A.2d 360 (1990), to determine whether her strict-liability cause of action based on failure to warn is preempted under the supremacy clause, U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. We hold that in the circumstances of this case federal law does not preempt liability under state law. Consequently, we reverse the judgment of the Appellate Division and remand to that court for consideration of the other issues previously raised on appeal there but not decided. See 234 N.J.Super. at 564-65 n. 3, 561 A.2d 288.

I

--A--

Tetracyclines, a group of antibiotics first introduced in 1948, are used to combat bacterial infections. A primary benefit of tetracyclines is that they are effective against a wider variety of organisms than are other antibiotics. In 1959 Lederle introduced a new tetracycline analogue, demethylchlortetracycline, under the trade name Declomycin. The 1959 edition of the Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR ), an annual used by doctors to determine the appropriate administration and effects of prescription drugs, stated that Declomycin had "greater antibiotic potency that made it possible to achieve therapeutic activity with less weight of antibiotic," that it had "a reduced renal clearance rate that produced a prolongation of the antibacterial levels in the body," and that it was "therapeutically equally effective as other tetracyclines in infections caused by organisms sensitive to the tetracyclines." Feldman I, supra, 97 N.J. at 436, 479 A.2d 374. The description did not mention tooth discoloration as a possible side effect. Ibid. Beginning some time after 1963, the PDR contained a warning that administration of Declomycin during the developmental stage of the permanent teeth--prenatal to approximately seven years of age--could cause permanent tooth discoloration. Ibid.

Plaintiff, Carol Ann Feldman, was born in 1960. Her father, Dr. Harold Feldman, testified that he had treated plaintiff with Declomycin two or three times a year between 1960 and 1963. He had not maintained records of the administrations but said that he had given the antibiotic only nine or ten times during that period. ("Times" refers not to individual administrations but to courses of treatment lasting an indeterminate but brief period.)

Shortly after Declomycin was introduced, Dr. Feldman became acquainted with it through a medical representative employed by Lederle. Dr. Feldman stated that the representative "informed me as to its qualities, to its effectiveness, to how it was being suggested in its use," and that the representative had left samples with the doctor after telling him "how useful the drug was in treating upper respiratory infections and how that was palatable for children." The drug had been made available in cherry-flavored pediatric drops and syrup and custard-flavored oral suspension, and in varying forms of packaging, including clown-shaped bottles obviously intended for pediatric use. That no warning of the potential side effect of tooth discoloration accompanied the various forms of packaging of Declomycin prior to December 1963 is not disputed.

Plaintiff's baby teeth were discolored gray-brown. When plaintiff's permanent teeth began to erupt around 1965, Dr. Feldman became concerned because they too were discolored. After the family dentist examined plaintiff, he informed Dr. Feldman of "the possibility of a correlation between tetracycline and infant tooth staining." On learning from other physicians that some of them also were experiencing staining of teeth in patients treated with tetracyclines, Dr. Feldman stopped prescribing Declomycin for pediatric use.

No one disputes that the discoloration of plaintiff's teeth is the result of ingestion of tetracycline during the developmental stage of her permanent teeth, nor does defendant contest the jury's finding that Declomycin was the specific tetracycline involved. Rather, the dispute focuses on what action Lederle could and should have taken on acquiring knowledge of the correlation between the use of tetracyclines, particularly Declomycin, and staining of teeth.

Plaintiff contends that Lederle knew or through the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known of the possible serious and permanent side effects of Declomycin before and at the time she ingested the drug. She also asserts that Lederle "failed and refused to warn the plaintiff, pediatric consumers, and their physicians of those harmful effects in timely, adequate, and reasonable fashion." As evidence of Lederle's actual or constructive knowledge, plaintiff introduced at trial an internal Lederle report dated August 28, 1962. The third page of the report, under the heading "Declomycin-Achromycin," reads:

We are beginning to hear comments about the yellowing discoloration of teeth in children following tetracycline therapy. One physician, already reported to [Lederle's corporate headquarters], also states his own children's second teeth are soft following tetracycline therapy. This physician states he will discontinue using tetracyclines until this phenomenon is proven or disproven.

Within three months of that report, Dr. Swanzey, an employee of Lederle from 1955 through the 1970s, wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notifying it of the possibility of a correlation between tooth discoloration and tetracycline use. In the letter, dated November 16, 1962, Lederle proposed adding the following warning to the labeling of all its tetracycline products: "Use of any tetracycline during tooth development in the neonatal period or early childhood may cause discoloration of the teeth." The letter continued: "Your early opinion and consideration is requested in order that this statement may be added at the earliest possible time."

Dr. Raymond Barzilai, a medical officer with the FDA, responded to Dr. Swanzey's proposal by letter dated December 3 1962. He indicated that the FDA had "not yet reached any form of final opinion (= medical, scientific, regulatory, etc.)," and was "currently devoting a great deal of active attention to the matter." Dr. Barzilai concluded: "[The FDA] will notify you as soon as any conclusion is reached." One copy of that letter bears a handwritten note suggesting that on its receipt, Lederle requested permission to disseminate the proposed warning in a circular but was "advised" by the FDA not to do so.

On January 15, 1963, Dr. Swanzey wrote to Dr. Barzilai with additional information relating to the possible correlation of tetracycline use and tooth discoloration. He related that he had spoken with a Dr. Zegarelli, who

confirmed that this phenomenon was peculiar to oxytetracycline, tetracycline, and chlortetracycline. He had no experience with demethylchlortetracycline. He felt that some statement is certainly indicated to be included in our package literature but expressed real concern that improper attention or publicity to this phenomenon should be avoided at all costs.

We [Lederle] are conducting some further discussions with others who may have had experience with the use of tetracyclines during the various periods of tooth developments, and based upon this we will arrive at a statement concerning which I will discuss with you later.

By letter dated February 4, 1963, the FDA informed Lederle of the following:

1. After an extensive analytical review of the subject, this Administration has...

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