United States: "No Newly Acquired Evidence" Argument On Implied Preemption Gaining Traction

It took a while for courts to catch on that implied preemption in drug cases depends on whether the plaintiffs can present "newly acquired evidence" of a relevant risk, but the argument seems to be gaining some traction. The first case to recognize the "newly acquired evidence" argument was the First Circuit's Marcus v. Forest Pharmaceuticals opinion in 2015, which we covered here.  Since then, we have covered the topic at some length in connection with orders coming out of the Eliquis MDL in New York, which you can revisit here, here, here, and here.  These posts report on a series of orders in which the district judge dismissed multiple cases because federal law impliedly preempted the plaintiffs' claims.

A district judge has now issued a similar dismissal ruling in a prescription drug case in the Northern District of Alabama, McGee v. Boehringer Ingelheim Pharm., Inc., No. 4:15-cv-2082, 2018 WL 1399237 (N.D. Ala. Mar. 20, 2018).  Here is the gist of it.  We all understand that Wyeth v. Levine opened the anti-preemption door by recognizing that an innovator drug manufacturer could sometimes change its label without the FDA's pre-approval through the Changed Being Effected (or "CBE") process.  Because that allowed the manufacturer, under some circumstances, to change its label to accommodate state law without running afoul of federal law, implied preemption did not necessarily apply.  Then came PLIVA v. Mensing, which held that federal law impliedly preempted state-law failure-to-warn claims against generic drug manufactures because generic manufacturers cannot use the CBE process, and therefore cannot change their labels without pre-approval.  Because generic manufacturers cannot change their labeling to comply with state law without violating federal law, state law claims must give way.

In McGee, the district court joined others in recognizing that even an innovator manufacturer cannot use the CBE process unless there is "newly acquired evidence" of a causal association between a risk and the drug.  In that event, the innovators cannot change their drug labeling without the FDA's pre-approval and implied preemption applies.  Id. at **3-4.  "So, if a plaintiff can allege the existence of newly-acquired information that supports a labeling change under the CBE regulation, and if the manufacturer subsequently fails to show by 'clear evidence' that the FDA would not have approved a change to the label, then a failure-to-warn claim will survive the manufacturer's preemption defense." Id. at *4.

In other words, before we even get to Wyeth v. Levine's "clear evidence standard," the plaintiff has to plead facts establishing that the manufacturer had newly acquired information and that the new information provides reasonable evidence of a causal association between the alleged risk and the drug.

The plaintiff in McGee failed.  He alleged that the product manufacturer failed to warn adequately regarding the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis, or "DKA." McGee, 2018 WL 1399237, at *1.  But the complaint was ambiguous on what the manufacturer knew about that condition and when the manufacturer knew it. Id. It all came down to timing.  The plaintiff alleged that there were reports of DKA before the FDA approved the defendant's drug, but reports that pre-date drug approval obviously are not "newly acquired" information.  In addition, any allegation that the manufacturer should have alerted the FDA about the DKA risk before approval is a fraud-on-the-FDA claim preempted under Buckman. Id. at *4.

The plaintiff also alleged that the FDA issued a warning with reference to adverse events after the plaintiff allegedly experienced DKA, but "common sense dictates that any information [the manufacturer] obtained after January 17, 2015, when Mr. McGee suffered DKA, is irrelevant to Mr. McGee's claims because [the manufacturer] could not have used that information to change its label and prevent Mr. McGee's injury." Id.

In theory, the plaintiff could have stated a claim with reference to information newly acquired after approval but before he used the product.  "But Mr. McGee lumps together claims and facts from before, during, and after this brief time period" and "[w]ithout clarification, the court cannot tell when Mr. McGee alleges [the manufacturer] had what information." Id.  Alas, the court granted leave to amend.  But the district court in the Eliquis cases gave the plaintiffs additional chances to plead too, and they were unable to come up with the facts.

The plaintiff in McGee may have similar difficulty.  We know from Eliquis that dumbing down the complaint and making the allegations more vague will not work, and the district court in McGee has already faulted this plaintiff for his imprecise pleadings in any event.  The court had particular distaste for allegations that were "nothing but a useless set of legal conclusions." Id. at *5.  The court continued:

Id. (citations omitted). These are pretty strong words, but nothing beyond what any court should expect under Rule 8 and TwIqbal.  The takeaway is that the "newly acquired evidence" argument is well-grounded in the law and supported now by substantial precedent.  Moreover, plaintiffs will not always have the facts to get around it.

This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.