Filed: Jul. 01, 2020
Latest Update: Jul. 01, 2020
Summary: Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 1 of 19 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 18-14934 _ D.C. Docket No. 6:18-cv-00613-GAP-DCI ROBERT DANIEL TAYLOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus LEANNE POLHILL, solely in her official capacity as a Member of the Florida Board of Hearing Aid Specialists, et al., Defendants-Appellees. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (July 1, 2020) Before MARCUS, ANDERSON, and EBE
Summary: Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 1 of 19 [PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT _ No. 18-14934 _ D.C. Docket No. 6:18-cv-00613-GAP-DCI ROBERT DANIEL TAYLOR, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus LEANNE POLHILL, solely in her official capacity as a Member of the Florida Board of Hearing Aid Specialists, et al., Defendants-Appellees. _ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _ (July 1, 2020) Before MARCUS, ANDERSON, and EBEL..
More
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 1 of 19
[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 18-14934
________________________
D.C. Docket No. 6:18-cv-00613-GAP-DCI
ROBERT DANIEL TAYLOR,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
LEANNE POLHILL, solely in her official capacity as a Member of the Florida
Board of Hearing Aid Specialists, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
________________________
(July 1, 2020)
Before MARCUS, ANDERSON, and EBEL,∗ Circuit Judges.
EBEL, Circuit Judge:
∗The Honorable David M. Ebel, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court
of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, sitting by designation.
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 2 of 19
Plaintiff-Appellant Robert Daniel Taylor sued Defendants-Appellees, the
members of the Florida Board of Hearing Aid Specialists and the Secretary of the
Florida Department of Health, each in their official capacities, alleging that three
Florida statutes administered by the Defendants are preempted by federal law
and/or violate Taylor’s due process rights. The district court dismissed the case in
its entirety, dismissing one of Taylor’s claims for lack of standing and the others
for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Taylor challenges
the district court’s dismissal of his claims. Having jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1291, we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissals for failure to state a claim upon
which relief could be granted and REVERSE the district court’s dismissal for lack
of standing and REMAND to the district court for further proceedings consistent
with this opinion.
I. BACKGROUND
In 1976, Congress amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act
through passage of the Medical Device Amendments (“MDA”) which, together
with regulations promulgated by the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”),
created a federal regulatory scheme for different kinds of medical devices,
including hearing aids. The MDA contains an express preemption provision, 21
U.S.C. § 360k, which preempts state laws which are “different from, or in addition
2
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 3 of 19
to” the federal requirements and “which relate[] to the safety or effectiveness of the
device or to any other matter included in a [federal] requirement applicable to the
device.” § 360k(a). This same section also provides for the FDA to create a
process through which states can request exemptions from express preemption.
§ 360k(b); see 21 C.F.R. pt. 808 (providing a procedure for requesting
exemption). 1
Florida, like most states, has enacted its own statutory scheme regulating
professions and occupations, which includes statutes applicable to those who fit
and dispense hearing aids. Fla. Stat. §§ 484.0401 et seq. Three of those statutes
are at issue in this case. The first, Fla. Stat. § 484.0501 (the “Pre-Sale Testing
Statute”), requires that when fitting and selling hearing aids, pre-sale audiometric
testing be conducted following specific minimum procedures and using specified
equipment. The second, Fla. Stat. § 484.053 (the “Licensing Statute”), prohibits
dispensing hearing aids without a state hearing aid specialist license or through
improper or fraudulent use of a state hearing aid specialist license. The third, Fla.
Stat. § 484.054 (the “Mail Order Ban”), bans all sales of hearing aids through the
mail.
Taylor has been selling hearing aids in Florida for over thirty years and, until
1
Neither the constitutionality nor the validity of the FDA’s promulgated regulations is at issue in
this litigation.
3
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 4 of 19
2016, Taylor was a licensed hearing aid specialist. In 2016, based on his belief
that the pre-sale testing requirements established by Florida’s statutory scheme
were preempted by the MDA, he did not renew his license. Taylor did not cease
his business, but rather continued selling hearing aids utilizing the testing
procedures he believes are necessary. Taylor was cited by Defendants for selling
hearing aids without a license, and he was assessed a civil fine, which he paid.
Taylor then filed this suit against the members of the Florida Board of
Hearing Aid Specialists and the Secretary of the Florida Board of Health, in their
official capacities, alleging that the three aforementioned Florida statutes are
unconstitutional because all three are preempted by federal law and because the
Pre-Sale Testing Statute infringes on his due process rights. Taylor sought
prospective declaratory and injunctive relief. The Defendants filed a motion to
dismiss Taylor’s complaint, which the district court granted.
The district court dismissed Taylor’s challenges to the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute for lack of standing, and it dismissed Taylor’s challenges to the Licensing
Statute and the Mail Order Ban for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Taylor appeals the dismissal of all of his claims.
Because this appeal arises from a motion to dismiss, our review is de novo,
“accepting the allegations in the complaint as true and construing them in the light
most favorable to the plaintiff.” Timson v. Sampson,
518 F.3d 870, 872 (11th Cir.
4
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 5 of 19
2008).
II. DISCUSSION
The district court concluded that Taylor (1) did not have standing to
challenge the Pre-Sale Testing Statute; (2) failed to state a claim as to the
Licensing Statute; and (3) failed to state a claim as to the Mail Order Ban. We
address these conclusions in turn.
A. Standing to Challenge the Pre-Sale Testing Statute
The district court determined that, because the Pre-Sale Testing Statute
imposes requirements on licensed hearing aid sellers, and because Taylor is not
and does not intend to become a licensed hearing aid seller, the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute neither applies to nor poses a threat of future injury to Taylor. Thus, the
district court concluded that Taylor does not have standing to challenge the Pre-
Sale Testing Statute. 2 We disagree.3
Article III, Section 2 of the United States Constitution limits our jurisdiction
to cases and controversies; consequently, plaintiffs wishing to utilize the federal
courts must establish that they have standing for each of their claims. U.S. Const.
2
The standing analysis applies equally to Taylor’s preemption claim and his due process claim
challenging the Pre-Sale Testing Statute.
3
The court below did not reach the merits of Taylor’s challenges to the Pre-Sale Testing Statute;
thus, we limit our review to whether Taylor has standing to challenge the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute, and we do not express an opinion as to the merits of either Taylor’s preemption
challenge or his due process challenge to the Pre-Sale Testing Statute.
5
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 6 of 19
art. III, § 2; Lujan v. Defs. of Wildlife,
504 U.S. 555, 559–60 (1992). Standing is a
jurisdictional issue that we review de novo. Bochese v. Town of Ponce Inlet,
405
F.3d 964, 975 (11th Cir. 2005). “[W]hen a question about standing is raised at the
motion to dismiss stage, ‘it may be sufficient to provide general factual allegations
of injury resulting from the defendant’s conduct.’”
Id. (quoting Fla. Pub. Interest
Research Grp. Citizen Lobby, Inc. v. EPA,
386 F.3d 1070, 1083 (11th Cir. 2004)).
Standing consists of three elements: (1) injury in fact, (2) causation, and
(3) redressability.
Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560–61. To show an injury in fact, the
plaintiff must show “an invasion of a legally protected interest which is
(a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual or imminent, not conjectural or
hypothetical.”
Id. at 560 (citations omitted). “A plaintiff who challenges a statute
must demonstrate a realistic danger of sustaining a direct injury as a result of the
statute’s operation or enforcement.” Babbitt v. United Farm Workers Nat’l Union,
442 U.S. 289, 298 (1979). “When a plaintiff has stated that he intends to engage in
a specific course of conduct ‘arguably affected with a constitutional interest,’
however, he does not have to expose himself to enforcement to be able to
challenge the law. ‘If the injury is certainly impending, that is enough.’” Am.
Civil Liberties Union v. Fla. Bar,
999 F.2d 1486, 1492 (11th Cir. 1993) (quoting
Babbitt, 442 U.S. at 298) (internal citation omitted).
Taking the factual allegations in the complaint as true, as we must, Taylor
6
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 7 of 19
has sufficiently alleged an injury in fact. Taylor challenges the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute’s constitutionality, arguing both that the statute violates his right to due
process and that it is preempted by federal law. In his complaint, Taylor alleges
that, prior to giving up his license, he was a state-licensed hearing aid specialist for
thirty years and had operated his own hearing aid retail store for over twenty-six
years. Taylor also alleges that “[b]ut for Florida’s prohibition for dispensing
hearing aids without using its required fitting procedures and equipment, [he]
would immediately begin dispensing hearing aids.” (Complaint ¶ 86.) In other
words, the only thing keeping Taylor from dispensing hearing aids is the threat of
enforcement of the allegedly unconstitutional Pre-Sale Testing Statute. And, as
Florida’s statutory scheme for dispensing hearing aids has been enforced against
Taylor in the past, the chance that it will be enforced against him in the future is
not speculative. Taylor is thus put in the position of either refraining from conduct
he alleges to be unconstitutionally prohibited or engaging in such conduct and
exposing himself to enforcement. The Constitution does not require that Taylor
expose himself to enforcement of the statute before he can challenge the statute.
Hence, Taylor has properly alleged an injury in fact.
Because the district court erroneously determined that Taylor did not show
an injury in fact, it did not address whether Taylor satisfied the remaining standing
requirements. However, as the question of Taylor’s standing is reviewed de novo,
7
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 8 of 19
Bochese, 405 F.3d at 975, we address the remaining standing requirements here to
conclude that Taylor has standing to challenge the Pre-Sale Testing Statute.
After properly alleging an injury in fact, the plaintiff must show causation
and redressability to establish standing.
Lujan, 504 U.S. at 560–61. To satisfy
these elements, Taylor must allege that his injury in fact is “fairly traceable to the
challenged conduct of the defendant” and is “likely to be redressed by a favorable
judicial decision.” Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins,
136 S. Ct. 1540, 1547 (2016). Here,
Taylor’s alleged injury in fact is the impending imposition of a fine by Defendants
in the course of their enforcement of the Pre-Sale Testing Statute. Because Taylor
could not be fined were the Pre-Sale Testing Statute invalidated, Taylor has
satisfied the causation requirement. And, because if Taylor were to succeed on any
of his challenges to the Pre-Sale Testing Statute, the statute would not be enforced
against him, and Taylor’s injury would be redressed by this litigation.
Thus, we conclude that Taylor has standing to challenge the Pre-Sale
Testing Statute, and we therefore REVERSE the district court’s dismissal of
Taylor’s claims for lack of standing as to the Pre-Sale Testing Statute and
REMAND for further proceedings on that claim. 4
4
Because we determine that Taylor has standing based on his assertion that he would become a
licensed hearing aid seller but for the Pre-Sale Testing Statute, we do not address his additional
standing argument that unlicensed hearing aid sellers are subject to enforcement of the Pre-Sale
Testing Statute.
8
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 9 of 19
B. Failure to State a Claim Pertaining to the Licensing Statute and the Mail
Order Ban
The district court dismissed Taylor’s preemption challenges to the Licensing
Statute and the Mail Order Ban for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is proper when the facts
alleged in the complaint fail “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.”
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly,
550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). On a motion to dismiss,
we accept the plaintiff’s factual allegations as true. Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
556 U.S.
662, 678 (2009). “However, conclusory allegations, unwarranted factual
deductions or legal conclusions masquerading as facts will not prevent dismissal.”
Davila v. Delta Air Lines, Inc.,
326 F.3d 1183, 1185 (11th Cir. 2003).
1. Preemption and the MDA
“It is a familiar and well-established principle that the Supremacy Clause
invalidates state laws that interfere with, or are contrary to, federal law.”
Hillsborough Cty. v. Automated Med. Labs., Inc.,
471 U.S. 707, 712 (1985)
(internal citation, quotation omitted). “[W]hen acting within constitutional limits,
Congress is empowered to pre-empt state law by so stating in express terms.”
Id.
at 713. In § 360k(a) of the MDA, Congress expressly preempted any state
requirement “with respect to a device intended for human use . . . which is
different from, or in addition to, any requirement applicable . . . to the device, and
. . . relates to the safety or effectiveness of the device or to any other matter in a
9
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 10 of 19
requirement applicable to the device.” 21 U.S.C. § 360k(a). Thus, § 360k(a) acts
to preempt a state requirement when (1) there is both a federal and a state
requirement applicable to the same device, and (2) the state requirement is
“different from, or in addition to,” the federal requirement and relates to the
device’s safety or effectiveness. Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc.,
552 U.S. 312, 321–22
(2008).
While § 360k(a) preempts state requirements, § 360k(b) gives the FDA the
authority to grant states, upon their application, exemptions from preemption. See
Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr,
518 U.S. 470, 496 (1996). The FDA promulgated
regulations which “prescribe[] procedures for the submission, review, and approval
of applications for exemption.” 21 C.F.R. § 808.1. The regulations also set forth
examples of types of state requirements “that are not preempted by [§ 360k(a)]
because they are not ‘requirements applicable to a device’ within the meaning of
[§ 360k(a)],” including licensing schemes. 5
Id. Thus, if a state requirement falls
5
Specifically, 21 C.F.R. § 808.1(d)(3) states that
Section [360k(a)] does not preempt State or local permits, licensing, registration,
certification, or other requirements relating to the approval or sanction of the
practice of medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, nursing, podiatry, or any
other of the healing arts or allied medical sciences or related professions or
occupations that administer, dispense, or sell devices.
Thus, by issuing these regulations, the FDA is not creating blanket exemptions from
preemption for licensing schemes; rather, the FDA is explaining that such laws (specifically
including licensing laws for the practice of dispensing hearing aids) did not fall within
§ 360k(a)’s preemptive scope to begin with.
10
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 11 of 19
within the purview of § 360k(a), and it has not been exempted pursuant to
§ 360k(b), that state requirement is preempted.
2. The Licensing Statute
When promulgating regulations to administer the MDA, the FDA stated
“that strong State and local licensing laws are needed to establish and maintain
minimum competency requirements for those persons who test for hearing loss and
select and fit hearing aids.” Professional and Patent Labeling and Conditions for
Sale, 42 Fed. Reg. 9,286, 9,287 (Feb. 15, 1977); see also Medical Devices;
Applications for Exemption From Federal Preemption of State and Local Hearing
Aid Requirements, 45 Fed. Reg. 67,325 (Oct. 10, 1980) (“Problems regarding the
competency of hearing aid dealers to measure hearing loss will be adequately
addressed by strong State and local licensing provisions.”). In that vein, the
promulgated regulations explain that state licensing requirements are an example
of “State or local requirements that affect devices that are not preempted by section
[§ 360k(a)] because they are not ‘requirements applicable to a device’ within the
11
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 12 of 19
meaning of [§ 360k(a)].” 21 C.F.R. § 808.1(d), (d)(3) (quoting § 360k(a)(2)). 6
Thus, the Licensing Statute is not a “requirement applicable to a device” and is not
expressly preempted by § 360k(a).
Taylor’s challenge to the Licensing Statute is really premised on a more
indirect attack, asserting that the Pre-Sale Testing Statute is preempted and those
pre-sale testing requirements are embedded into the qualifying elements to obtain a
license under the Licensing Statute, thus resulting in the Licensing Statute being
preempted as well. Taylor concedes that “[a] licensing scheme that does not
enforce the Pre-Sale Testing Mandate would be unobjectionable,” but he argues
that “at the very least, elements of the Licensure Requirement are pre-empted.”
(Appellant’s Br. at 14, 22.)7 We disagree.
The Pre-Sale Testing Statute’s requirements are not “embedded” into the
elements of the Licensing Statute. The Licensing Statute is short and
6
Section 808.1(d)(3) provides that there are two types of federal requirements which, should
they conflict with state licensing requirements, would preempt such state licensing
requirements: (1) requirements enacted when the Secretary has restricted the sale of a device
under 21 U.S.C. § 360j(e), and (2) requirements enacted exempting devices from federal
requirements in order to encourage scientific investigation under 21 U.S.C. § 360j(g). However,
the Licensing Statute is a state law which addresses “the competency of hearing aid dealers to
measure hearing loss,” 45 Fed. Reg. at 67,325, and Taylor has not alleged that either excepted
federal requirement is applicable here. Therefore, neither of these provisions are relevant to our
case.
7
Taylor states that he “challenges the licensing requirements that impose conditions of sale that
are ‘different’ from and ‘in addition to’ federal law and which relate to the ‘safety and
effectiveness’ of hearings aids,” (Appellant’s Br. at 22); he does not, however, tell the court
which elements of the Licensing Statute impose such conditions, nor does the court find any such
elements in the Licensing Statute.
12
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 13 of 19
straightforward, first providing a list of prohibited acts:
(1) A person may not:
(a) Practice dispensing hearing aids unless the person is a licensed
hearing aid specialist;
(b) Use the name or title “hearing aid specialist” when the person has
not been licensed under this part;
(c) Present as her or his own the license of another;
(d) Give false, incomplete, or forged evidence to the board or a member
thereof for the purposes of obtaining a license;
(e) Use or attempt to use a hearing aid specialist license that is
delinquent or has been suspended, revoked, or placed on inactive
status;
(f) Knowingly employ unlicensed persons in the practice of dispensing
hearing aids; or
(g) Knowingly conceal information relative to violations of this part.
Fla. Stat. § 484.053(1). The Licensing Statute then goes on to provide penalties for
undertaking any aforementioned prohibited acts.
Id. § 484.053(2), (3). None of
these prohibited acts pertains to any device sold by a properly certified licensee or
to any testing procedures that must be undertaken by a licensee when selling a
particular device.
None of the prohibited acts in the Licensing Statute mention or reference
either the Pre-Sale Testing Statute or its requirements.
Id. § 484.053(1). Even
subsection (1)(g) of the Licensing Statute, which references “violations of this
part,” does not prohibit a person from violating another section; rather, it only
prohibits a person from knowingly concealing information about such violations.
13
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 14 of 19
In other words, the Licensing Statute does not prohibit a licensed hearing aid
specialist from selling hearing aids without performing pre-sale testing, even
though it does prohibit him from knowingly concealing information about such
sales. As is shown by its focus on the knowing concealment of a violation, the
Licensing Statute properly addresses the truthfulness of the licensee, which is
certainly a factor in a licensee’s competency. But liability for underlying acts of
selling hearing aids is addressed under other sections of Florida’s statutory scheme
rather than under the Licensing Statute, which is the basis for Taylor’s claim.
As all of the Licensing Statute’s prohibitions are properly aimed at ensuring
a minimal level of competency and truthfulness for licensees, rather than creating
requirements “applicable to the device,” enforcement of the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute’s requirements is not embedded into the Licensing Statute, and the
Licensing Statute cannot be attacked with an argument that the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute is preempted.
Taylor’s reliance on MeTX, LLC v. Wal-Mart Stores Texas, LLC, 62 F.
Supp. 3d 569 (E.D. Tex. 2014), is unavailing. That case concerned a similar
preemption challenge to Texas’s hearing aid licensing scheme.
Id. at 574.
However, the Texas law clearly ties licensing to the “fitting and dispensing of
hearing instruments.”
Id. at 584 (citing Tex. Occ. Code § 402.451); see also Tex.
Occ. Code § 402.001(6) (defining “license” as “a license issued by the department
14
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 15 of 19
under this chapter to a person authorized to fit and dispense hearing instruments”).
And, the Texas Code defines “fitting and dispensing hearing instruments” as “the
measurement of human hearing by the use of an audiometer or other means to
make selections, adaptations, or sales of hearing instruments.” MeTX, LLC, 62 F.
Supp. 3d at 578 (quoting Tex. Occ. Code § 402.001). Thus, under the Texas law
one could not become licensed without satisfying the pre-sale testing requirements.
Florida, by contrast, draws a distinction between those who must be licensed
hearing aid dispensers and those who must perform pre-sale testing. For example,
a licensee undertaking acts pertaining to the warranty of a previously sold hearing
aid is, by statutory definition, “dispensing hearing aids”; however, because he has
already sold the hearing aid and is addressing the device’s post-purchase warranty,
he is not “fitting and selling” hearing aids and the Pre-Sale Testing Statute’s
mandate would not be applicable. Fla. Stat. §§ 484.041(3)(b), 484.0501. Thus,
unlike in Texas, it is possible to be a licensed hearing aid specialist in Florida
without automatically being subject to the Pre-Sale Testing Statute.
Because any infirmity in the Pre-Sale Testing Statute is not inextricably linked
to the Licensing Statute, and because state licensing schemes are not preempted by
§ 360k(a)’s express preemption provision, Taylor has failed to state a claim that the
Licensing Statute is preempted by federal law.
3. The Mail Order Ban
15
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 16 of 19
Florida’s Mail Order Ban provides that: “It is unlawful for any person to sell
or distribute hearing aids through the mail to the ultimate consumer.” Fla. Stat.
§ 484.054. Taylor pursues his challenge to the Mail Order Ban through two
theories. First, he asserts that the Mail Order Ban has the purpose and effect of
prohibiting sales by unlicensed sellers. This theory rests on the assertion that
Florida may not prohibit sales by unlicensed sellers, because any such restriction in
the Licensing Statute would be prohibited by the MDA. Because we rejected this
assertion above in concluding that Florida’s Licensing Statute is not preempted,
Taylor’s first theory fails.
Taylor’s second theory is that the Mail Order Ban has the purpose and effect
of prohibiting sales conducted without complying with the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute’s requirements. This theory also fails.
We do not accept Taylor’s conclusory allegation that the purpose and effect
of the Mail Order Ban is to prohibit sales that do not comply with the Pre-Sale
Testing Statute. See
Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678 (“[W]e are not bound to accept as true
a legal conclusion couched as a factual allegation.”). The plain text of the Mail
Order Ban does not expressly require compliance with the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute, as it categorically bans all mail order sales. Thus, although Taylor alleges
that the Mail Order Ban prohibits sales that do not comply with the Pre-Sale
Testing Statute, it would be just as accurate to allege that the Mail Order Ban
16
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 17 of 19
prohibits sales that do comply with the Pre-Sale Testing Statute. A comparison of
Missouri’s ban on mail order sales, addressed in Missouri Board of Examiners for
Hearing Instrument Specialists v. Hearing Help Express, Inc.,
447 F.3d 1033, 1035
(8th Cir. 2006), highlights this difference.
That case upheld a preemption challenge to Missouri’s mail order ban,
which “provides that ‘[n]o person shall (1) sell through the mails, hearing
instruments without prior fitting and testing by a hearing instrument specialist.’”
Id. at 1036–37 (quoting Mo. Rev. Stat. § 346.110 (subsequently amended))
(emphasis added). The court concluded that Missouri’s ban was preempted by
§ 360k(a) solely because the ban contained a mandatory pre-sale testing
requirement.
Id. at 1037. The same cannot be said for the Mail Order Ban at issue
here, which does not contain such a requirement and works to ban even those mail
order sales undertaken with pre-sale testing. Moreover, the only language common
to both the Missouri and the Florida bans—“[n]o person shall (1) sell through the
mails, hearing instruments”—was never discussed by the court in Missouri Board
of Examiners. Hence, Florida’s ban does not contain the same incorporation of a
pre-sale testing requirement as does Missouri’s ban, and Missouri Board of
Examiners is distinguishable 8
8
This is not to say that we endorse the court’s approach to pre-sale testing requirements in
Missouri Board of Examiners, which was not informed by this circuit’s long-standing
precedents. We merely hold that it is distinguishable.
17
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 18 of 19
Since we do not accept Taylor’s conclusory legal assertion as to the Mail
Order Ban’s purpose and effect, we look to the plain language of the Mail Order
Ban itself to determine whether it is preempted by § 360k(a): “It is unlawful for
any person to sell or distribute hearing aids through the mail to the ultimate
consumer.” Fla. Stat. § 484.054. Under § 360k(a), the Mail Order Ban would be
preempted if it is “different from, or in addition to,” a federal requirement and if it
relates to the safety or effectiveness of the device. Taylor’s argument that the Mail
Order Ban relates to the safety and effectiveness of the device is based not on the
Mail Order Ban itself, but on the fact that pre-sale testing relates to safety and
effectiveness. He makes no argument, nor could he, that prohibiting sales by mail,
in and of itself, relates to the safety or effectiveness of the device.
Thus, because the Mail Order Ban does not embed the Pre-Sale Testing
Statute within it, and because the Mail Order Ban does not relate to the safety or
effectiveness of the device, Taylor has failed to state a claim that the Mail Order
Ban is preempted by federal law.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s dismissals for
failure to state a preemption claim as to Florida’s Licensing Statute and Mail Order
Ban. We REVERSE the district court’s dismissal for lack of standing as to
Taylor’s due process and preemption challenges to Florida’s Pre-Sale Testing
18
Case: 18-14934 Date Filed: 07/01/2020 Page: 19 of 19
Statute and REMAND to the district court for further proceedings consistent with
this opinion.
19