Erin HOLMES; Shawn Holmes, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. MERCK & CO., INC., Defendant-Appellee.
No. 08-16557.
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.
Argued and Submitted Dec. 3, 2009. Resubmitted April 1, 2011. Filed Sept. 25, 2012.
697 F.3d 1080
Denise Barton, Las Vegas, NV, and Donald F. Zimmer, San Francisco, CA, for the appellees.
Before: BETTY B. FLETCHER, SIDNEY R. THOMAS, and N. RANDY SMITH, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
THOMAS, Circuit Judge:
Erin and Shawn Holmes appeal the district court‘s grant of summary judgment in favor of Merck & Company in their diversity action alleging wrongful death. They contend that the district court erred in applying the standards of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (Vaccine Act or the Act),
I
When Jacob Holmes was one year old, his pediatrician administered M-M-R II,1 a vaccine manufactured and distributed by Merck, in conformity with the recommendations set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Within nine days, Jacob began experiencing seizures and developed encephalopathies. He died approximately six months later.2 Acting on behalf of their son Jacob‘s estate, Erin and Shawn Holmes petitioned for compensation from a government fund created by the Vaccine Act. They received $250,000 through the program.
Subsequently, acting in their individual capacity and pursuant to
After three years of discovery, Merck filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing, as is relevant here, that the Vaccine Act foreclosed Plaintiffs’ lawsuit. The district court only partially agreed, holding that the Act limited Plaintiffs’ strict liability and negligence claims to the extent that the claims relied on allegations of design defect and failure to warn. But the district court disagreed with Merck‘s assertion that the Vaccine Act limited Plaintiffs’ other state law claims. The district court therefore granted in part and denied in part Merck‘s summary judgment motion and requested supplemental briefing on Plaintiffs’ claims of misrepresentation, breach of warranty, and punitive damages. Following supplemental briefing on these remaining state law claims, the district court granted Merck summary judgment. Plaintiffs then filed a timely appeal to this court, challenging only the district court‘s application of Section 22 of the Vaccine Act to their design defect and failure to warn claims. After oral argument, we deferred submission of the case to await the Supreme Court‘s decision in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, 562 U.S. 223, 131 S.Ct. 1068, 179 L.Ed.2d 1 (2011).
We review de novo a district court‘s decision to grant summary judgment. See, e.g., Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. Thompson, 363 F.3d 1013, 1019 (9th Cir.2004). We also review de novo a district court‘s interpretation and construction of a federal statute. Lively v. Wild Oats Mkts., Inc., 456 F.3d 933, 938 (9th Cir.2006).
II
A
The question in this appeal is whether the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act preempts all or part of the Plaintiffs’ claims. The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act is part of the federal government‘s larger program of approving, regulating, and promoting vaccines. See
Congress addressed these concerns by establishing a “no fault” national vaccine injury compensation program through which vaccine-injured persons might quickly and easily obtain damage awards from a “Vaccine Court.” See Schafer v. Am. Cyanamid Co., 20 F.3d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 1994) (describing compensation system and coining “Vaccine Court” term).
First, in Section 11, Congress stipulated that any claimant “qualified” to bring a claim in Vaccine Court must do so in advance of bringing a civil suit.
Finally, if the person who sustained the vaccine-related injury is a minor, disabled or deceased, the Act permits that person‘s parent or legal representative to file for compensation on behalf of the injured person‘s estate.
Section 22 of the Vaccine Act meanwhile provides vaccine manufacturers “significant tort-liability protections,” Bruesewitz, 131 S.Ct. at 1074, by eliminating liability for injuries from “unavoidable side effects,”
Putting these two provisions together, Plaintiffs argue that, because Section 11 of the Vaccine Act renders them ineligible for compensation through the Vaccine Court, no other part of the Act, and particularly not Section 22‘s tort-liability limitations, should apply to their claims in state court. We disagree. The exhaustion requirement in Section 11 is only a subsection of Congress‘s larger statutory scheme to ensure that vaccine manufacturers have an affordable and predictable way of handling injured parties’ compensation claims. Though parents are not bound by Section 11‘s exhaustion requirement, they are not free from the Act‘s tort liability limitations. Regardless of whether a plaintiff is the vaccine-recipient or the parent of one, Section 22 expressly preempts design-defect claims seeking compensation for injury or death caused by a vaccine‘s unavoidable side effects.
Preemption law begins with the presumption that Congress does not “intend to displace state law.” Maryland v. Louisiana, 451 U.S. 725, 746, 101 S.Ct. 2114, 68 L.Ed.2d 576 (1981). State action may nonetheless be “foreclosed by express language in a congressional enactment, by implication from the depth and breadth of a congressional scheme that occupies the legislative field, or by implication because of a conflict with a congressional enactment.” Lorillard Tobacco v. Reilly, 533 U.S. 525, 541, 121 S.Ct. 2404, 150 L.Ed.2d 532 (2001) (internal citations omitted). Thus, when construing an express preemption clause, a reviewing court must necessarily begin by examining the clause‘s “plain wording,” as this “necessarily contains the best evidence of Congress’ preemptive intent.” Sprietsma v. Mercury Marine, 537 U.S. 51, 62-63, 123 S.Ct. 518, 154 L.Ed.2d 466 (2002). “We must not be guided by a single sentence or member of a sentence, but look to the provisions of the whole law, and to its object and policy.” Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 481 U.S. 41, 51, 107 S.Ct. 1549, 95 L.Ed.2d 39 (1987); see also Freightliner Corp. v. Myrick, 514 U.S. 280, 288, 115 S.Ct. 1483, 131 L.Ed.2d 385 (1995) (“The fact that an express definition of the pre-emptive reach of a statute ‘implies‘—i.e., supports a reasonable inference—that Congress did not intend to preempt other matters does not mean that the express clause entirely forecloses any possibility of implied preemption.“).
Congress included several clauses in Section 22 that inform our preemption determination. First, in Section 22(a), the Act establishes a default that traditional state tort remedies remain except in several enumerated instances, including as provided for in subsection (b).
Pursuant to subsection (c), manufacturers are generally immunized from liability for failure to warn if they have complied with regulatory requirements and have given the warning to the healthcare professional, the vaccine recipient, or the vaccine recipient‘s legal representative.
The text of these clauses indicates that Congress expressly intended to prohibit states from regulating large aspects of tort
In its recent decision affirming the Third Circuit‘s reasoning in Bruesewitz, the Supreme Court elaborated:
The “even though” clause [in Section 22(b)(1)] . . . delineates the preventative measures that a vaccine manufacturer must have taken for a side-effect to be considered “unavoidable” under the statute. Provided that there was proper manufacture and warning, any remaining side effects, including those resulting from design defects, are deemed to have been unavoidable. State-law design-defect claims are therefore preempted.131 S.Ct. at 1075.
In Bruesewitz, the Supreme Court also discussed the interplay between subsections (b)(2) and (b)(1):
The structure of the [Vaccine Act] and of vaccine regulation in general reinforces what the text ofId. at 1078-79.§ 300aa-22(b)(1) suggests. A vaccine‘s license spells out the manufacturing method that must be followed and the directions and warnings that must accompany the product. Manufacturers ordinarily must obtain the Food and Drug Administration‘s (FDA) approval before modifying either. Deviations from the license thus provide objective evidence of manufacturing defects or inadequate warnings. Further objective evidence comes from the FDA‘s regulations—more than 90 of them—that pervasively regulate the manufacturing process, down to the requirements for plumbing and ventilation systems at each manufacturing facility. Material non-compliance with any one of them, or with any other FDA regulation, could cost the manufacturer its regulatory-compliance defense.
Plaintiffs argue that the express preemption discussed in Bruesewitz does not apply to their case because Bruesewitz involved a claim brought on behalf of an injured minor child. In such situations, Plaintiffs do not disagree that Section 22 would expressly limit some claims for compensation. But, where as here, a plaintiff could not have first filed in Vaccine Court for compensation of individual injuries, Plaintiffs claim Section 22‘s tort suit limitations are inapplicable. Plaintiffs contend this construction is supported by the fact
We disagree with Plaintiffs’ cramped interpretation of the Vaccine Act. Given the structure and broad purpose of the Act as a whole, it is most reasonable to apply Section 22 to all design defect and failure to warn claims arising out of a vaccine-related injury or death, not just those that could have first been brought in the Vaccine Court.
First, Part II of the Vaccine Act, in which Sections 11 and 22 appear, is much broader than Plaintiffs would have us construe it. Part II not only establishes the vaccine compensation program and Vaccine Table, but it also outlines the duties of the Secretary of the Department of Health along with the responsibilities and liability of vaccine manufacturers. Moreover, Part II provides any citizen—regardless of whether that person was directly or indirectly harmed by a vaccine-related injury—with a cause of action “against the Secretary where there is alleged a failure of the Secretary to perform any act or duty under [Part II of the Act].”
The structure of Section 11 further demonstrates that the Act is meant to apply broadly. As subsection (a)(9) in Section 11 explains, Section 11 “applies only to a person who has sustained a vaccine-related injury or death and who is qualified to file a petition[.]”
Section 23, entitled “Trial,” confirms this interpretation. In particular, the section sets forth three stages—a liability phase, a compensatory damages phase, and a punitive damages phase—by which a civil action “not barred by section 300aa-11(a)(2) of th[e Vaccine Act] shall be tried.”
Moreover, if we were to conclude that the parents of those suffering a vaccine-related injury could bring design defect and failure to warn claims outside of Section 22‘s limitations, we would be acting contrary to the statute‘s central purpose of managing vaccine manufacturers’ liability because our construction would do little to protect the vaccine manufacturers from suit. Cf. Bruesewitz, 131 S.Ct. at 1075 (“If a manufacturer could be held liable for failure to use a different design, the word ‘unavoidable’ would do no work. A side effect of a vaccine could always have been avoidable by use of a differently designed vaccine not containing the harmful element. The language of the provision thus suggests that the design of the vaccine is a given, not subject to question in the tort action.“).
Finally, in several cases where parent-plaintiffs have filed civil actions for injuries allegedly caused by vaccines and have sought recovery individually and on behalf of child-plaintiffs, courts have applied Section 22 without distinguishing between the claims. Most notably, this scenario played out in American Home Products Corp. v. Ferrari, 284 Ga. 384, 668 S.E.2d 236 (2008), vacated, — U.S. —, 131 S.Ct. 1567, 179 L.Ed.2d 471 (2011), remanded to 289 Ga. 184, 710 S.E.2d 771 (2011).
In Ferrari, two parents, individually and on behalf of their son, sued various vaccine manufacturers alleging that mercury in a vaccine preservative had caused the child neurological damage. The Ferraris’ complaint also alleged several separate state law claims for their own loss of services and emotional distress. In reviewing these claims, the district court held that Section 22 preempted the alleged design defect claims, regardless of whether the parents could have first filed their suit in Vaccine Court. The Georgia appellate courts reversed. 668 S.E.2d at 237. But then United States Supreme Court vacated the Georgia courts’ judgment, making no mention of the difference between the claims of the parents and of the vaccine recipient. See 131 S.Ct. at 1567. On remand, the Georgia courts did not readily address this issue either. See 710 S.E.2d at 772. In interpreting Section 22, it is
We recognize that a parent‘s loss of a child is an injury distinct from the harm the child himself suffered. But despite Plaintiffs’ protests to the contrary, applying Section 22 to their claims does not leave them without a remedy for their injuries. Plaintiffs alleged eight claims plus a claim for punitive damages in their state wrongful death action. Application of Section 22 affects only two of these claims—the strict products liability and negligence claims to the extent that they were based upon allegations of design defect and failure to warn. Therefore six of Plaintiffs’ claims remain unaffected by the Act and each of these provide a possible remedy to the injuries that they suffered as a result of Jacob‘s illness and death. Accordingly, our conclusion is in keeping with the strong presumption that Congress does not, “without comment, remove all means of judicial recourse for those injured by illegal conduct.” Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 238, 251, 104 S.Ct. 615, 78 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984); Cf. Schafer, 20 F.3d at 6.
C
Having concluded that Section 22 generally applies to limit tort liability in a parent‘s claim for individual injuries, we must determine the extent to which it alters Plaintiffs’ lawsuit here. Said another way, we now consider if Plaintiffs’ suit is a “civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death associated with the administration of a vaccine,” and thus limited by the Act.
First, the Act defines the term “vaccine-related injury or death” as “an illness, injury, condition, or death associated with one or more of the vaccines set forth in the Vaccine Injury Table. . . .”
III
For these reasons, there is no cause to disturb the district court‘s application of Section 22 to Plaintiffs’ state law products liability claims of design defect and failure
Plaintiffs do not challenge on appeal the district court‘s resolution of the state law claims that the district court held were not preempted by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act.
AFFIRMED.
Notes
When the death of any person, whether or not a minor, is caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another, the heirs of the decedent . . . may each maintain an action for damages against the person who caused the death. . . . The heirs may prove their respective damages in the action . . . and the court or jury may award each person pecuniary damages for the person‘s grief or sorrow, loss of probable support, companionship, society, comfort and consortium, and damages for pain, suffering or disfigurement of the decedent.
No person may bring a civil action for damages . . . against a vaccine administrator or manufacturer in a State or Federal court for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death associated with the administration of a vaccine . . . and no such court may award damages . . . for such a vaccine-related injury or death, unless a petition has been filed, in accordance with section 300aa-16 of this title, for compensation under the Program for such injury or death[.]
(a) General Rule
Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (e) of this section State law shall apply to a civil action brought for damages for a vaccine-related injury or death.
(b) Unavoidable adverse side effects; warnings
(1) No vaccine manufacturer shall be liable in a civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death associated with the administration of a vaccine after October 1, 1988, if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions and warnings.
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), a vaccine shall be presumed to be accompanied by proper directions and warnings if the vaccine manufacturer shows that it complied in all material respects with all requirements under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act [21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.] and section 262 of this title (including regulations issued under such provisions) applicable to the vaccine and related to vaccine-related injury or death for which the civil action was brought unless the plaintiff shows—
(A) that the manufacturer engaged in the conduct set forth in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 300aa-23(d)(2) of this title [fraud or intentional and wrongful withholding of information from the Secretary during any phase of a proceeding for approval of the vaccine, after its approval, or other criminal or illegal activity relating to the safety and effectiveness of vaccines], or
(B) by clear and convincing evidence that the manufacturer failed to exercise due care notwithstanding its compliance with such Act and section (and regulations issued under such provisions).
(c) Direct warnings
No vaccine manufacturer shall be liable in a civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death associated with the administration of a vaccine after October 1, 1988, solely due to the manufacturer‘s failure to provide direct warnings to the injured party (or the injured party‘s legal representative) of the potential dangers resulting from the administration of the vaccine manufactured by the manufacturer.