State ex rel. Wyeth v. Grady

• Decision Date: 26 August 2008
• Docket Number: No. SC 88275.,SC 88275.
• Citation: 262 S.W.3d 216
• Parties: STATE ex rel. WYETH a/k/a Wyeth, Inc., et al., Relators, v. The Honorable Thomas C. GRADY, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

262 S.W.3d 216

STATE ex rel. WYETH a/k/a Wyeth, Inc., et al., Relators, v. The Honorable Thomas C. GRADY, Respondent.

No. SC 88275.

Supreme Court of Missouri, En Banc.

August 26, 2008.

Harvey L. Kaplan, Angela M. Seaton, Julie R. Somora, Shook Hardy Bacon, LLP, Kansas City, J. William Newbold, James R. Erwin, Christopher M. Hohn, Thompson Coburn, LLP, Mark A. Kinzie, Ryan G. Vacca, Stinson, Morrison Hecker, LLP, Teresa D. Batosiak, Sandberg, Phoenix, von Gontard, PC, Greg L. Dioneda, Moser and Marsalek, P.C., St. Louis, Steven Glickstein, Maris Veidemanis, Kaye Scholer, LLP, New York, NY, Matthew V. Brammer, Traci Wallace, Ulmer & Berne LLP, Cincinnati, OH, Matthew Liebsen, Thompson Hine, LLP, Cleveland, OH, Carolyn Taylor, Morris, Polich & Purdy, LLP, San Diego, CA, for Relators.

D. Brian Ratliff, Gregory J. Bubalo, Steven B. Rotman, Bubalo Hiestand & Rotman, P.C., Louisville, KY, John J. Driscoll,

Seth S. Webb, Brown & Crouppen, St. Louis, Stephanie L. Lyons, Timothy F. Thompson, Jr., Simmonscooper, LLC, East Alton, IL, for Respondent.

ORIGINAL PROCEEDING OF PROHIBITION

PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, Judge.

Relators, comprised of Wyeth and various other pharmaceutical companies, seek a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial court from denying their motions to dismiss claims pending against them on forum non conveniens grounds. Specifically, they claim that the trial court abused its discretion in denying their motions to dismiss because all the relevant factors in the forum non conveniens analysis favor dismissal. While many of the relevant factors weigh in favor of applying the doctrine of forum non conveniens, not all weigh in their favor. In particular, the pharmaceutical companies fail to show that other courts are available to the plaintiffs and that trying the cases in Missouri would be oppressive to the pharmaceutical companies or impose an undue burden on Missouri courts. This Court's preliminary writ of prohibition is quashed.

Factual and Procedural Background

Plaintiffs filed suit on July 7, 2004, in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis for injuries allegedly caused by their ingestion of prescription hormone therapy drugs manufactured by Wyeth and other pharmaceutical companies. The original petition was filed on behalf of 186 plaintiffs, who were women who had taken the drugs and their husbands or representatives of the estates of deceased hormone therapy users. Twenty-one of the original plaintiffs were Missouri residents. There were 34 defendants, who were manufacturers of the hormone therapy drugs and pharmacies that allegedly sold the drugs. The case was removed to federal court but then remanded to the state trial court. At the request of the pharmaceutical companies, the trial court subsequently severed the claims of the individual plaintiffs and, in response to the pharmaceutical companies' motion to dismiss, granted plaintiffs leave to file amended complaints. One of the grounds in the motion to dismiss was the doctrine of forum non conveniens, which the trial court overruled. The pharmaceutical companies then removed the majority of the cases, including the cases of all Missouri-resident plaintiffs, to federal court in Arkansas.¹ Only eleven non-diverse claims remained in St. Louis City. Missouri retains jurisdiction over the claims because the pharmaceutical companies conduct substantial and continuous business in the state. See State ex rel. K-Mart Corp. v. Holliger, 986 S.W.2d 165, 166-69 (Mo. banc 1999).

The pharmaceutical companies then filed motions to dismiss ten of the remaining claims on forum non conveniens grounds. In support of their motions, the companies attached exhibits. No hearing was held on the motions. On November 2, 2006, in ten separate orders, the trial court overruled the companies' motions to dismiss. In its order in each case, the trial court listed the considerations to weigh in the forum non conveniens analysis and then wrote:

Here, the Court notes that this action has been pending for over two years and that substantial discovery has already been performed. The lawsuit was originally filed on July 7, 2004 and joined the claims of multiple plaintiffs, all of whom claimed they were injured as a result of taking hormone therapy drugs. The case was then removed to federal court and subsequently remanded back to this Court. On August 24, 2005, the Court ordered the cases severed. Pursuant to the Court's ruling, a new Amended Complaint was filed on behalf of each of the individual plaintiffs.

The Court further notes that Defendants do a substantial amount of business within the State of Missouri, marketing and distributing their products to Missouri residents. The Court also does not believe an undue burden on this Circuit will be created by the prosecution of this case in the City of St. Louis.

Considering all of these matters together with the knowledge that the doctrine of forum non conveniens is to be applied with caution and only upon a clear showing of inconvenience and when the ends of justice require it, the Court finds that Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Based on Forum Non Conveniens should be overruled.

The pharmaceutical companies claim that they are entitled to an order prohibiting the trial court from taking any further action in these cases, other than dismissing the cases on forum non conveniens grounds, because the trial court abused its discretion in overruling their motions to dismiss. Specifically, the companies assert that all the factors relevant to determining whether a forum is inconvenient weigh heavily in their favor.

Standard of Review

Because the question of whether to dismiss a case for inconvenient forum requires the court to weigh multiple factors the decision is left largely to the trial court's discretion. Besse v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 721 S.W.2d 740, 742 (Mo. banc 1986). Although the trial court's discretion is broad, it is not unlimited. Id. at 743. "[D]iscretion is not the equivalent of whim; discretion must be applied with control." Anglim v. Missouri Pacific R. Co., 832 S.W.2d 298, 303 (Mo. banc 1992). The trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is clearly against the logic of the circumstances and is so arbitrary and unreasonable as to shock the sense of justice and indicate a lack of careful consideration. Id. Further, if reasonable persons may differ as to the propriety of an action taken by the trial court, then it cannot be held that the trial court has abused its discretion. Id. On appeal, "only those facts will be considered that were before the trial court when it ruled on the motion to dismiss, and the evidence will be viewed in a light favorable to the result of the trial court." Id.

Writ of Prohibition is an Appropriate Remedy

"Prohibition is a discretionary writ, and there is no right to have the writ issued." State ex rel. Linthicum v. Calvin, 57 S.W.3d 855, 857 (Mo. banc 2001). A writ of prohibition will issue to prevent an abuse of discretion, irreparable harm to a party, or an extra-jurisdictional act and may be appropriate to prevent unnecessary, inconvenient, and expensive litigation. Id. This Court has stated expressly that "a petition for writ of prohibition may be a proper means of obtaining relief from an order denying dismissal on forum non conveniens grounds." Holliger, 986 S.W.2d at 169. Although a writ of prohibition may be an appropriate remedy, "the discretionary nature of the trial court's order portends that a writ rarely will be granted." Id.

The Forum Non Conveniens Doctrine

Although a plaintiff has the right to choose any forum where there is proper jurisdiction and venue in which to file the plaintiff's cause of action, the doctrine of forum non conveniens was developed to prevent a plaintiff from taking advantage of liberal venue statutes to "vex, oppress, or harass" a defendant by bringing suit in a forum that had no connection to the parties or the cause of action. Anglim v. Mo. Pacific R. Co., 832 S.W.2d 298, 302 (Mo. banc 1992). The doctrine allows, and in some circumstances requires, the trial court to dismiss a suit if it is filed in a "manifestly inconvenient" forum. Besse, 721 S.W.2d at 742.

In State ex rel. Chicago, R.I. & P.R. Co. v. Riederer, this Court listed six important, but non-exclusive, factors for the trial court to weigh in determining whether a suit should be dismissed on the grounds of inconvenient forum. 454 S.W.2d 36, 39 (Mo. banc 1970). Those six factors are: (1) the place where the cause of action accrued, (2) the location of witnesses, (3) the residence of the parties, (4) any nexus with the place of suit, (5) the public factor of the convenience to and burden on the court, and (6) the availability to the plaintiff of another court with jurisdiction over the cause of action that affords him a forum for his remedy. Id. Any additional factors to be considered and the weight assigned to each factor are dependent upon the circumstances in each case. Anglim, 832 S.W.2d at 303. "[A] plaintiff's choice of forum is not to be disturbed except for `weighty reasons' and the case should be dismissed only if the `balance is strongly in favor' of the defendant." Id. at 302 (quoting Gulf Oil Corp. v. Gilbert, 330 U.S. 501, 508-09, 67 S.Ct. 839, 91 L.Ed. 1055 (1947)).

In addition to analyzing whether the six factors listed above weigh heavily in the companies' favor, it is also necessary to determine whether permitting the trial to proceed in Missouri would cause an injustice due to oppression of the defendant or undue burden on the court. Plaintiffs assert that this consideration is a second prong in the analysis that the companies fail to satisfy. The impression that the forum non conveniens analysis includes a second prong appears to be the result of the following passage from this Court's opinion in Anglim:

In the context of an appeal from an order overruling a motion to dismiss based on a claim of inconvenient forum, the decision of the trial...