The Supreme Court of New Jersey has just issued its opinion in the closely watched medical monitoring case, Phyllis Sinclair v. Merck & Co. Because your faithful blogger’s firm is involved in the Vioxx litigation, MassTortDefense presents you with the opinion and, as Joe Friday said, just the facts. No commentary or editorializing.
In this products liability case the Court considered whether plaintiffs may recover the costs of medical monitoring despite their failure to allege a physical injury. This litigation arises from the use of Vioxx, a prescription drug manufactured and sold by Merck. In November 2004, plaintiffs filed a class action complaint on behalf of a proposed national class of individuals who ingested Vioxx and who allegedly may suffer from serious latent injury for which they may require medical monitoring. Plaintiffs later refined the factual allegations advanced in the complaint and alleged that as a result of the direct consumption of Vioxx, they are at enhanced risk of serious undiagnosed and unrecognized myocardial infarction, and other latent injuries. Plaintiffs sought the cost of medical testing in the form of a court-administered screening program to provide medical diagnostic tests for each member of the proposed class and follow-up with an epidemiologist.
The trial court reviewed the standards governing pleadings and motions to dismiss, as well as the
facts and holdings of several cases that addressed medical monitoring: Ayers v. Township of Jackson, 106 N.J. 557 (1987), Mauro v. Raymark Industries, Inc., 116 N.J. 126 (1989), and Theer v. Philip Carey Co., 133 N.J. 610 (1993). The trial court granted Merck’s motion and dismissed plaintiffs’ complaint. It found that the PLA limits compensation to harm as defined by N.J.S.A. 2A:58C-1b(2), and reasoned that medical monitoring has not been applied to a products liability action to which the PLA applies. Additionally, the trial court noted that the medical monitoring is an unavailable remedy under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
On appeal, the Appellate Division reversed and remanded for further proceedings. Sinclair v. Merck & Co., 389 N.J. Super. 493 (2007). The panel noted the lack of facts and expert testimony at the motion stage of the proceedings, and remanded for discovery and an evidentiary hearing. The state Supreme Court granted Merck’s petition for certification and also granted amicus curiae status to various entities.
Today’s opinion holds that the N.J. Products Liability Act, which is the sole source of remedy for plaintiffs’ defective product claim, does not include the remedy of medical monitoring when no manifest injury is alleged. This Court reads the PLA to require a physical injury. And thus medical monitoring plaintiffs cannot satisfy the definition of harm to state a product liability claim under the PLA. The Court further holds that claims for harm caused by a product are governed by the PLA irrespective of the theory underlying the claim. The heart of plaintiffs’ case is the alleged potential for harm allegedly caused by Merck’s drug. It is thus a product liability claim. Consequently, plaintiffs may not maintain a CFA claim.
Chief Justice Rabner and Justices Lavecchia, Rivera-Soto and Hoens joined in Justice Wallace’s majority opinion. Justice Long filed a separate, dissenting opinion. Justice Albin did not participate.