ABSTRACT
” This is an appeal from two judgments, both resulting from the same cause of action. It presents questions relating to liability for injuries caused by the taking of a drug during pregnancy.
On September 26, 1956, near the end of her first trimester of pregnancy, plaintiff Claire Lyons notified her obstetrician that she was experiencing some bleeding. To prevent spontaneous abortion, he prescribed a drug generically known as stilbestrol or diethylstilbestrol (DES). The prescription, which specified no particular brand, was phoned in to a local pharmacy and filled with stilbestrol tablets manufactured by Premo Pharmaceutical Labs, Inc. Mrs. Lyons took four of the 25 milligram pills daily for 12 days, after which the medication was discontinued because the bleeding had stopped. On April 20, 1957 after an otherwise normal pregnancy, she gave birth to a girl, Joan.
LYONS v. PREMO PHARMACEUTICAL LABS, INC., Leagle, decision/1979353170NJSuper183_1340, August 8, 1979.
In the fall of 1973, when Joan was a junior in high school, it was discovered that she was suffering from clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Surgery was performed at that time to correct the condition. Although it appeared initially that the doctors had succeeded in arresting the spread of the malignancy, Joan died on November 3, 1977 of “widespread metastasis of clear cell adenocarcinoma and bronchopneumonia.”
Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix, a rare form of malignancy in Joan’s age group, has been observed in recent years in girls of 14-22 and related to in utero exposure to DES.
The present case began with the filing of a complaint by Joan Lyons, her mother Claire and her father Thomas, on September 29, 1975. The complaint identified Premo as the manufacturer of the medication taken by Claire during her pregnancy with Joan and alleged, against that defendant, negligence, breach of warranty, strict liability in tort and false representation. Merck & Co. was charged also with essentially the same acts and theories on the assertion that it had licensed Premo to produce stilbestrol. Eleven other drug companies were joined as defendants, the allegation against them being that it was through their joint efforts that DES was placed on the market. Compensatory and punitive damages were demanded.
Plaintiffs requested that the court relax R. 4:14-1 to allow for the early taking of depositions so that “we can determine whether or not we have all the defendants” and “the proper defendants.” The motion was granted by the assignment judge.
A second order issued in January 1976 allowed plaintiffs to proceed with taking depositions from representatives of Premo, but limited them “to the discovery of such facts as may be necessary to permit plaintiff to make a determination as to the joinder of additional parties.”
The discovery pursuant to these orders revealed that the DES used by Premo in the tablets taken by Claire Lyons was purchased from the manufacturer, Specific Pharmaceutical Labs, Inc., through a brokerage firm, R.W. Greeff & Co., Inc. As a result, the complaint was amended to add these two parties and Chemetron Corp., which since had acquired Specific.
All defendants but Premo moved for summary judgment. Judgment was granted on May 23, 1977 for all those not within this particular chain of distribution. The motions of Greeff and Chemetron were denied without prejudice.
On June 9, 1977 the trial judge denied plaintiffs’ motion to pursue discovery against all defendants, with the exception of Specific, Chemetron, Premo and Greeff.
In October 1977 plaintiffs agreed to a settlement with both Premo and Chemetron (for Specific). The following month Joan died.
Finding that the drug did not become dangerous until Premo obtained it, added to it other ingredients and packaged it for sale, the trial judge dismissed the complaint against Greeff.
This appeal from both judgments followed. “…
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