In re: Testosterone Replacement Therapy Products Liability Litigation Rodney Guilbeau v. PFIZER, INC. and PHARMACIA & UPJOHN COMPANY, LLC

17-2056Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit19 gen 2018

Testo completo

United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
Chicago, Illinois 60604
January 19, 2018
Before
WILLIAM J. BAUER, Circuit Judge
DAVID F. HAMILTON, Circuit Judge
SARA L. DARROW, District Judge*
No. 17-2056
IN RE: TESTOSTERONE
REPLACEMENT THERAPY PRODUCTS
LIABILITY LITIGATION
RODNEY GUILBEAU, et al.,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
PFIZER, INC. and PHARMACIA &
UPJOHN COMPANY, LLC,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District
Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, Eastern Division.
MDL No. 2545
Master Docket Case No. 1:14-cv-01748
Matthew F. Kennelly,
District Judge.
O R D E R
In the multidistrict litigation docket that gave rise to this appeal (MDL No. 2545),
the district court dismissed all cases with prejudice that involved the above-named
defendants, Pfizer, Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn Company, LLC, the makers of the drug
* Of the Central District of Illinois, sitting by designation.

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No. 17-2056 Page 2
Depo-Testosterone.1 Some of the more than one thousand individual cases subject to this
appeal were resolved by final judgments, see Master Dkt. Nos. 1824, 1969, while others
were resolved by partial final judgments pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b), see Master Dkt.
Nos. 1865, 1970. By separate opinion issued today, we affirm the district court’s decisions
with respect to both the defendants’ preemption defense and the denial of discovery on
the preemption defense.
In the course of briefing this appeal, however, the parties have since noted the lack
of complete diversity of citizenship in forty of the cases affected by these District Court
orders. The list of these cases, contained in Appellate Dkt. 15-1, is reproduced below. In
each case, there is at least one defendant who is a citizen of the same state as the plaintiff,
which would ordinarily deprive the federal courts of subject matter jurisdiction. See 28
U.S.C. § 1332(a),(c); McCready v. eBay, Inc., 453 F.3d 882, 890–91 (7th Cir. 2006) (noting
complete diversity requirement). Though some cases may involve only one (non-diverse)
defendant, it is possible that some of these cases may be properly brought against
remaining diverse defendants and that the non-diverse defendants could and should be
dismissed to preserve subject matter jurisdiction. It would be possible in theory for us to
take these forty cases one by one to decide whether the non-diverse defendants are
dispensable parties who should be dismissed on appeal. See Newman-Green, Inc. v.
Alfonzo-Larrain, 490 U.S. 826 (1989); 28 U.S.C. § 1653 (allowing amendment of defective
jurisdictional allegations in both trial and appellate courts). Given the number of these
cases, the paucity of relevant information before us, and the district court’s much greater
familiarity with the details of the litigation and its effective management, we think the
better course is to have the district court sort out these jurisdictional problems with more
detailed assistance from counsel.
Accordingly, due to a lack of complete diversity of citizenship, the final judgments
or partial final judgments entered by the district court in the cases listed below are
VACATED and REMANDED for proceedings consistent with this order and the
accompanying opinion issued in this appeal, No. 17-2056.
1 The district court explained its conclusions in several case management orders issued March 7, 2016,
March 30, 2017, April 18, 2017 and May 26, 2017. See Master Dkt. Nos. 1211, 1824, 1865, 1969, 1970.

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No. 17-2056 Page 3
CASES AFFECTED
Plaintiff/District Court Case
No.
Plaintiff’s
Citizenship
Non-Diverse
Defendant(s)
to be Dismissed
Master Docket
Document
Ordering
Dismissal
Final Judgment Cases
Evans, Sr. Glenn E., 16-cv-3668 CA McKesson
Corporation 1824
Puryear, David, 16-cv-3650 CA McKesson
Corporation 1824
Barrett, Thomas, 16-cv-7627 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Bowen, III, Clinton, 16-cv-8749 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Dougherty, Michael, 15-cv-2824 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Dunn, Lawrence, 16-cv-1363 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Gomez, Luiz C., 16-cv-10157 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Hampton, Duane, 15-cv-9564 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Knight, Andre L., 16-cv-6039 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Lewis, Russell, 15-cv-8889 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824

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No. 17-2056 Page 4
Lockner, Steven, 16-cv-8912 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Mangas, Brian, 16-cv-7617 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
McClerkin, Duncan, 15-cv-4757 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Morgan, Michael, 15-cv-6038 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Naragon, Robert C., 15-cv-6546 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Orzel, John F., 15-cv-11598 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Patrick, Tony N., 16-cv-4578 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Sawyers, Dennis, 15-cv-7590 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Stapples, Herman, 15-cv-11418 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1824
Craig, Michael A., 17-cv-1451 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1969
Fleeger, David, 17-cv-465 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1969
Griffith, Gary, 17-cv-558 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1969

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No. 17-2056 Page 5
Hitz, Frank F., 17-cv-685 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn Company
LLC
1969
Rule 54(b) Cases
Canion, Thomas, 15-cv-6448 GA AbbVie Products
LLC 1865
Henderson, Ronald E., 16-cv-
1527 GA AbbVie Products
LLC 1865
Johnson, Ralph Derrell, 16-cv-
1277 GA AbbVie Products
LLC 1865
Linkous, Brian K., 16-cv-7186 GA AbbVie Products
LLC 1865
Tallevast, John, 16-cv-1772 GA AbbVie Products
LLC 1865
Thompson, Roger, 16-cv-1716 GA AbbVie Products
LLC 1865
Crawford, Edward Lee, 16-cv-
1397 FL Anda, Inc. 1865
Gagnier, Peter T., 16-cv-1349 FL Anda, Inc. 1865
Jackson, Roosevelt, 16-cv-1158 FL Anda, Inc. 1865
King, John, 16-cv-3194 VA Besins Healthcare
Inc. 1865
Baggett, Dennie, 16-cv-7404 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn
Company LLC
1865
Coursen, Michael, 16-cv-2676 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn
Company LLC
1865
Harte, Patrick, 16-cv-3946 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn
Company LLC
1865
Howse, Jr., John, 16-cv-1521 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn
Company LLC
1865

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No. 17-2056 Page 6
Sutphin, Anthony, 16-cv-4485 MI
Pharmacia &
Upjohn
Company LLC
1865
Barton, Terry, 17-cv-2262 FL Anda, Inc. 1970
Coffey, Robert J., 17-cv-626 FL Anda, Inc. 1970

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