Rowe v. Hoffman-La Roche, Inc.
Decision Date | 29 March 2007 |
Citation | 917 A.2d 767,189 N.J. 615 |
Parties | Robert ROWE, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. HOFFMAN-LA ROCHE, INC., and Roche Laboratories, a member of the Roche Group, Defendants-Appellants, and ABC Corporation (said name being fictitious) and Drs. John Doe 1-10, Defendants. |
Court | New Jersey Supreme Court |
Karg, Bridgewater, Kerry J. Roach, Newark, John T. Chester, Morristown, of counsel and on the brief).
Michael G. Donahue, III, Lawrenceville, submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae Association of Trial Lawyers of America-New Jersey (Stark & Stark, attorneys).
Edward J. Fanning, Jr., Newark, submitted a brief on behalf of amicus curiae Healthcare Institute of New Jersey (McCarter & English, attorneys; Mr. Fanning and David R. Kott, of counsel; Mr. Fanning, Mr. Kott and Marielena Piriz, on the brief).
Plaintiff Robert Rowe, a Michigan resident, filed a complaint in Essex County against two New Jersey pharmaceutical manufacturers, defendants Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. and Roche Laboratories, Inc. Rowe alleged that the manufacturers failed to warn adequately about the health risks associated with Accutane, a drug manufactured by defendants and approved in 1982 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat recalcitrant nodular acne. Under Michigan law, the FDA approval results in a conclusive determination that the health risk warnings issued by defendants regarding the drug were adequate. Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2946(5)(2006). New Jersey law, however, considers the FDA approval to have created only a rebuttable presumption of adequacy. N.J.S.A. 2A:58C-4. Thus, plaintiff's suit is viable in New Jersey but precluded in Michigan. After comparing Michigan's and this State's governmental interests in resolving the adequacy-to-warn issue, we conclude that Michigan's interest is paramount and its conclusive presumption applies. Consequently, we reverse the contrary Appellate Division decision, Rowe v. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., 383 N.J.Super. 442, 892 A.2d 694 (App.Div.2006), and reinstate the trial court's decision dismissing Rowe's complaint.
The facts and procedural history pertaining to this dispute are relatively uncomplicated. Hoffmann-La Roche is a New Jersey corporation, and while the record does not reveal Roche Laboratories' state of incorporation, both companies have their principal place of business in Nutley, New Jersey. Hoffman-La Roche manufactures, labels, and packages Accutane in Nutley, and Roche Laboratories markets, sells, and distributes the drug also from Nutley. While some production and marketing efforts occurred outside New Jersey, almost all of the manufacturing and sales activities by the two companies (hereinafter Hoffmann), including Accutane-related communications with the FDA, took place in or emanated from New Jersey.
Robert Rowe has lived in Michigan all of his life. When Rowe was sixteen years old, in February 1997, a Michigan physician prescribed Accutane to treat his recalcitrant acne. A Michigan pharmacist filled Rowe's prescription, and he used the medicine in Michigan for about three months until May 1997. Approximately three months after he discontinued his use of Accutane, in August 1997, Rowe became depressed and contemplated suicide. In September 1997, Rowe was arrested after crashing a car into a house during an apparent suicide attempt. Thereafter, Rowe sought psychiatric treatment in Michigan and Ohio.
In March 2001, Rowe brought suit against Hoffmann in Essex County, New Jersey. He alleged that Accutane caused him to become severely depressed and suicidal and that Hoffmann failed to warn him adequately about these risks. He also claimed Hoffmann did not adequately test Accutane, and that Hoffmann was aware of the drug's potential adverse psychological effects but failed to advise the FDA of those effects.
After denying Rowe's allegations, Hoffmann moved for summary judgment, seeking dismissal of the lawsuit, contending that Michigan law governed. The trial court, relying on the Appellate Division's decision in Deemer v. Silk City Textile Machinery Co., 193 N.J.Super. 643, 475 A.2d 648 (App.Div.1984), concluded that between New Jersey and Michigan, Michigan had the strongest governmental interest in applying its statute to the failure-to-warn issue, and dismissed Rowe's complaint. A divided panel of the Appellate Division reversed. Rowe, supra, 383 N.J.Super. at 442, 892 A.2d 694.
The Appellate Division majority disagreed with the trial court and held that New Jersey had the strongest interest in applying its law to Rowe's failure-to-warn claim. Id. at 466, 892 A.2d 694. The majority recognized that "the cited conduct of [Hoffmann] with respect to the Accutane warning occurred largely in New Jersey." Id. at 456, 892 A.2d 694. Relying on this Court's opinion in Gantes v. Kason Corp., 145 N.J. 478, 679 A.2d 106 (1996), the majority recognized and weighed our strong interest in deterring the manufacture of unsafe products within its borders. Rowe, supra, 383 N.J.Super. at 458-59, 892 A.2d 694.
The majority found our interest outweighed Michigan's because Michigan's purpose in enacting the provision at issue may have been to protect only Michigan businesses, an interest not implicated here because Hoffmann is not a Michigan drug manufacturer. Id. at 460-61, 892 A.2d 694. The majority further concluded that no evidence existed in the record to support a finding that Michigan enacted its statute in response to a shortage of prescription drugs in that state. Ibid. Even if Michigan intended to create a "more hospitable commercial atmosphere, to encourage drug manufacturers to locate in that state," the majority believed that application of New Jersey's statute would foster that purpose. Id. at 461 n. 5, 892 A.2d 694.
Judge Wefing dissented. She noted that, contrary to the majority's assertion, the policy behind Michigan's statute was not limited to the protection of Michigan businesses. Id. at 467, 892 A.2d 694. The judge found that "the actions of the Michigan Legislature sprang from concern about the effect of litigation on the availability and cost of prescription medications for its citizens." Id. at 469, 892 A.2d 694. The judge also questioned the majority's analysis of New Jersey's interest, concluding that this State had no interest in compensating Rowe because Rowe was a Michigan resident. Ibid. Finally, Judge Wefing was concerned that by applying New Jersey law to this issue, New Jersey courts would become a haven for out-of-state litigants who reside in states that protect pharmaceutical manufacturers. Id. at 470, 892 A.2d 694.
The parties' arguments on appeal mirror the two Appellate Division opinions, with Rowe advancing the majority's views and Hoffmann siding with Judge Wefing.
Although the Association of Trial Lawyers of America-New Jersey (ATLA) supports the Appellate Division majority's opinion, all of the other amici curiae, Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, New Jersey Defense Association, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, contend the majority erred by applying New Jersey law to this dispute. ATLA and the Healthcare Institute also take conflicting positions regarding the decision's impact on New Jersey's economy. The Product Liability Advisory Council and the New Jersey Defense Association request that this Court take judicial notice of their contention that since 1996, over ninety percent of mass-tort claims against New Jersey pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey courts have been brought by non-New Jersey residents. The Advisory Council and the Defense Association conclude by arguing that "New Jersey's strong interest in discouraging . . . forum shopping and the associated expense that many thousands of out-of-state residents place on this state's courts and its taxpayers should therefore be accorded great weight."
When law suits are filed in New Jersey, we apply our choice-of-law rules. Erny v. Estate of Merola, 171 N.J. 86, 94, 792 A.2d 1208 (2002). In tort suits, such as this one, we no longer mechanistically apply the law of the place of wrong. Fu v. Fu, 160 N.J. 108, 118, 733 A.2d 1133 (1999). Instead, we currently subscribe to the more flexible governmental-interests analysis. Erny, supra, 171 N.J. at 94, 792 A.2d 1208. Compare Clement v. Atl. Cas. Ins. Co., 13 N.J. 439, 442, 100 A.2d 273 (1953) ( ) with Mellk v. Sarahson, 49 N.J. 226, 234-35, 229 A.2d 625 (1967) (utilizing interest analysis).
In applying the governmental-interests analysis, two steps are involved. Erny, supra, 171 N.J. at 100-01, 792 A.2d 1208. Veazey v. Doremus, 103 N.J. 244, 248, 510 A.2d 1187 (1986). If there is no actual conflict, then the choice-of-law question is inconsequential, and the forum state applies its own law to resolve the...
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