Culbert, et al. v. Johnson & Johnson, et al.
| Docket Number: | 2003-IA-00881-SCT Linked Case(s): 2003-IA-00881 |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-23-2004 Opinion Author: Easley, J. Holding: Affirmed and Remanded |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Joinder - M.R.C.P. 20 - Venue - M.R.C.P. 82(d) Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Waller and Cobb, P.JJ., Carlson and Dickinson, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Diaz and Randolph, JJ. Concur in Part, Concur in Result 1: Graves, J. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-16-2003 Appealed from: Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge: Lamar Pickard Disposition: Transferred certain Plaintiffs' claims. Case Number: 2001-85 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Rochelle Culbert, et al. |
RICHARD CLINTON STRONG
KEN R. ADCOCK
MARK D. MORRISON
LESTER JOSEPH MENG, III |
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| Appellee: | Johnson & Johnson, Mallan G. Morgan, M.D., and Sav-On-Drugs of Columbia, Inc. | DONNA BROWN JACOBS CHRISTY D. JONES JOHN C. HENEGAN ROBERT L. JOHNSON, III KARI LOUISE FOSTER CHRIS J. WALKER JOHN LEWIS HINKLE AL NUZZO THOMAS M. LOUIS |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Joinder - M.R.C.P. 20 - Venue - M.R.C.P. 82(d) |
| Summary of the Facts: | Thirty plaintiffs filed suit in Jefferson County Circuit Court for injuries allegedly sustained from using the prescription drug Propulsid. Two of those plaintiffs were from Jefferson County, ten are Mississippi residents who live in eight different counties and eighteen reside out of state. The complaint named as defendants, the makers of Propulsid, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc., which is a corporation based in New Jersey; Janssen’s New Jersey-based parent corporation, Johnson & Johnson; Ashraf Nofal, M.D.; Nathan Bradford, M.D.; Stephen Harless, M.D.; Simon Cofrancesco, D.O.; Mallan Morgan, M.D.; Bankston Pharmacy; Henrich Drug Store, Inc.; Conova's City Drug Store; Fred's Pharmacy, Inc.; Eckerd Corporation; Rite-Aid/K&B; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Condon's East Union Pharmacy; Kroger Limited Partnership I; People's Drug Store; Sav-on Drugs, Inc., who allegedly filled the prescriptions and John Does 1-10 as yet unidentified individuals. Janssen sought to have the plaintiffs' joinder in Jefferson County severed, alleging that the inquiries into alleged defective design, failure to warn, breach of warranty and misrepresentation will be wholly distinct in each plaintiff's case. Janssen states that none of the non-Jefferson County plaintiffs purchased the allegedly defective product or received medical treatment in Jefferson County. The court granted Janssen’s motion to sever as to any plaintiffs without original jurisdiction and venue in Jefferson County. The Supreme Court granted an interlocutory appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The case of Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. v. Armond, 866 So.2d 1092, 1097 (Miss. 2004) controls the disposition of the substantive issues raised by the parties on appeal. The two prongs of M.R.C.P. 20 must always be met. An important consideration in deciding the issue of joinder is if the joinder will result in undue prejudice to the parties. Here, a jury might well be overwhelmed with thirty separate fact patterns that are offered to prove medical malpractice. Therefore, the trial court's decision to sever the claims is affirmed. M.R.C.P. 82(d) provides that the court shall transfer the action to the court in which it might have properly been filed. The case is remanded for the court to provide an order of transfer as to the ten in-state plaintiffs' claims to the venues where the claims could have been properly filed. Because the two Jefferson County plaintiffs do not meet the same transaction or occurrence test, the court should sever the claims. |
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