Filed: Aug. 01, 2013
Latest Update: Feb. 12, 2020
Summary: Case: 12-13321 Date Filed: 08/01/2013 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 12-13321 _ D. C. Docket No. 8:10-cv-02658-JDW-AEP BARBARA METZ, et al. Plaintiffs -Appellants, versus WYETH, LLC, et al., Defendants-Appellees. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (August 1, 2013) Before MARTIN and FAY, Circuit Judges, and EDENFIELD, * District Judge. * Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, United States
Summary: Case: 12-13321 Date Filed: 08/01/2013 Page: 1 of 4 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 12-13321 _ D. C. Docket No. 8:10-cv-02658-JDW-AEP BARBARA METZ, et al. Plaintiffs -Appellants, versus WYETH, LLC, et al., Defendants-Appellees. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (August 1, 2013) Before MARTIN and FAY, Circuit Judges, and EDENFIELD, * District Judge. * Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, United States D..
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Case: 12-13321 Date Filed: 08/01/2013 Page: 1 of 4
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
_____________________________
No. 12-13321
_____________________________
D. C. Docket No. 8:10-cv-02658-JDW-AEP
BARBARA METZ, et al.
Plaintiffs -Appellants,
versus
WYETH, LLC, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
_________________________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
_________________________________________
(August 1, 2013)
Before MARTIN and FAY, Circuit Judges, and EDENFIELD, * District Judge.
*
Honorable B. Avant Edenfield, United States District Judge for the Southern District of
Georgia, sitting by designation.
Case: 12-13321 Date Filed: 08/01/2013 Page: 2 of 4
PER CURIAM:
The Metz’s case had a bad two days in June, as their attorney has
recognized in a model display of professionalism. The opinions in Mutual
Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett,
133 S. Ct. 2466 (2013), and Guarino v. Wyeth,
LLC, et al., __F.3d__, No. 12-13263,
2013 WL 3185084 (11th Cir. June 25, 2013),
disposed of all the claims before us, including the Metz’s negligent design claim
against Wyeth and Schwarz. See Guarino,
2013 WL 3185084, at *5. The
judgment of the district court therefore is
AFFIRMED.
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Case: 12-13321 Date Filed: 08/01/2013 Page: 3 of 4
MARTIN, Circuit Judge, concurring:
While conceding that most of their arguments on appeal were disposed of by
Mutual Pharm. Co., Inc. v. Bartlett, ___ U.S. ___,
133 S. Ct. 2466 (2013), and
Guarino v. Wyeth LLC, et al., ___ F.3d ___, No. 12-13263,
2013 WL 3185084
(11th Cir. June 25, 2013), the Metzes asserted at oral argument that their negligent
design claim against Wyeth and Schwarz survived. I write separately only to
elaborate on the majority’s conclusion that Guarino also precludes that claim.
The holding in Guarino is clear: “Florida law does not recognize a claim
against the brand manufacturer of a prescription drug when the plaintiff is known
to have consumed only the generic form.”
2013 WL 3185084, at *7. Because
Mrs. Metz only consumed the generic form of metoclopramide, Guarino’s analysis
bars any claims, including a negligent design claim, against Wyeth and Schwarz,
the brand name manufacturers.
Also, contrary to the Metzes’ argument, Vincent v. C.R. Bard, Inc.,
944 So.
2d 1083 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006), does not alter our analysis. In that case, the Florida
Second District Court of Appeal held that “a designer who defectively designs a
product should not be shielded from liability for negligence because of the mere
fact that there was an intervening manufacturer or distributor.”
Id. at 1086.
However, unlike Vincent, where the designer used a separate firm to manufacture
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Case: 12-13321 Date Filed: 08/01/2013 Page: 4 of 4
its product and profited from that product’s sale, here Wyeth did not use Actavis to
manufacture its drug and profit from Mrs. Metz’s purchase of the Actavis product.
The relationships between the designer and the manufacturer and purchaser in
Vincent are not analogous to the relationships between Wyeth and Actavis or
Wyeth and Mrs. Metz. Tellingly, a number of the Florida cases on which Guarino
relied for its holding were issued after Vincent. Guarino,
2013 WL 3185084, at
*5; see also, e.g., Howe v. Wyeth Inc., No. 8:09-CV-610-T-17AEP,
2010 WL
1708857, at *3 (M.D. Fla. April 26, 2010).
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