ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION TO DISMISS, AND DENYING MOTION TO STRIKE CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS
This сause is before the Court upon Defendant Nova Biomedical Corporation’s Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 8] and Motion to Strike Class Action Allegations [ECF No. 9]. The Court has reviewed the Motions, all supporting and opposing filings, and the record in this case. For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Nova’s Motion to Dismiss and denies Nova’s Motion to Strike Class Action Allegations.
BACKGROUND
On Nоvember 27, 2013, Plaintiff Robin Gill-Samuel’s state-court Class Action Complaint was removed to this Court. See ECF No. 1. Plaintiffs Complaint brings claims of product liability and negligence against Defendant Nova Biomedical Corporation (“Nova”), a manufacturer of prescription blood-glucose test strips. ECF No. 1-1 at 5-8, ¶¶ 25-38. Nova announced a voluntary recall of 62 million of its test strips on July 29, 2013. Id. at ¶ 2. The recalled test strips are alleged to have reported abnormally high blood-glucose readings. Id. at 3, ¶ 12.
In December 2012, Plaintiff used Nova’s test strips and, because of a blood-glucose reading that Plaintiff alleges was falsely high due to the product defect, Plaintiff sought medical treatment that was later determined to be unnecessary. Id. ¶ 13. In August 2013, Plaintiff received a letter from her pharmacy indicating that Plaintiff had receivеd one or more test strips whose lot number was included in the recall. Id. ¶ 14. Plaintiff brings this action on behalf of all persons who purchased Nova’s test strips that were subject to the July-August 2013 recall and, in addition, on behalf of a subclass of these persons who incurred additional medically related expenses as a result of the strips’ improper test results. Id. at 3-4, ¶¶ 15,16.
DISCUSSION
I. Motion to Dismiss
A. Rule 12(b)(6) Standard
Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.P., governs motions to dismiss. That rule providеs, in relevant part,
*696 (b) How to Present Defenses. Every defense to a claim for relief in any pleading must be asserted in the responsive pleading if one is required. But a party may assert the following defenses by motion:
(6) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted;____
Id. The Court, therefore, considers the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as they set forth the requirements for stating a claim.
Rule 8(a)(2), Fed.R.Civ.P., demands that a pleading contain “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). While a complaint need not provide detailed factual allegations, the standard “requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal,
Courts therefore conduct a “two-pronged approach” when considering a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6). Iqbal,
B. Economic-Loss Rule
Plaintiff brings two claims in tort against Nova — for product liability and negligence — but Nova’s Motion to Dismiss asserts that these claims are barred by the economic-loss rule. ECF No. 8 at 8-9. Florida law provides for an economic-loss rule that prohibits a party in a product-liability case from suing in tort for “disappointed economic expectations” because these types of claims are generally protected by contract law, rather than tort law. Tiara Condo. Ass’n, Inc. v. Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.,
As the Tiara Court explained, the development of the economic-loss rule paralleled the
Nova suggests that the economic-loss rule bars any tort claim based on purely economic damages. ECF No. 8 at 8. But Tiara’s discussion makes clear that the rule applies to tort claims arising from depressed economic expectations concerning the product itself only, these being more properly cognizable under warranty law. See Tiara Condo. Ass’n,
But, in addition to her individual claims, Plaintiff defines two classes on behalf of which she brings this action: “[a]ll persons whо purchased Nova Max glucose test strips subject to the July-August 2013 recall” and a subclass of “[a]ll persons who purchased Nova Max glucose test strips subject to the July-August 2013 recall and incurred additional medically-related expenses because of the strips’ improper test results.” ECF No. 1-1 at 3-4, ¶¶ 15, 16. To the extent that the only injury suffered by the first group is injury to the product itself, these claims are barrеd by the economic-loss rule as claims cognizable under warranty law, but not tort law. Accordingly, Plaintiffs class-action allegation of a group of those who merely purchased the defective strips is dismissed, but dismissal of the subclass of those who incurred additional medical expenses is denied.
C. Plaintiffs Complaint Under the Rule 12(b)(6) Standard
In addition, Nova asserts that Plaintiffs Complaint fails to meet the Twombly pleading standard in other respеcts. Though Nova argues that Plaintiff does not specifically allege that the test strips she purchased were actually defective, the Complaint does clearly allege that Plaintiff “purchased the defective glucose test strip.” ECF No. 1-1 at 1-2, ¶ 3. Nova also contends that the Complaint fails to specify which of the lots identified within the recall notice Plaintiff purchased. ECF No. 8 at 6. Nоva notes that, while the recall encompasses nearly twenty lots, the defect was suspected to be present in only three of those lots. Id. at 3 n. 2. But the Complaint alleges that the test strips that Plaintiff purchased were defective, and the Court must accept that allegation as true on a motion to dismiss. Hughes,
Nova also argues that the Complaint fails to state a claim becаuse it does not set forth
Plaintiffs injuries or damages, on the other hand, are indeed essential elements of her claims. Both counts in the Complaint incorporate Plaintiffs allegation that she received “medical treatment that was later determined to be unnecessary” because of the falsely high test-strip reading. ECF No. 1-1 ¶¶ 13, 25, 32. Contrary to Nova’s assertion, detailed factual allegations abo.ut thе exact nature or circumstances of this medical treatment is not pecessary for Plaintiff to state a claim. See Iqbal,
II. Motion to Strike Class-Action Allegations
In addition to its motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), Nova moves to strike the class-action allegations from Plaintiffs Complaint pursuant to Rule 12(f), Fed.R.Civ.P. ECF No. 9. Nova argues that the class-action allеgations fail to meet the requirements to bring a class action under Rule 23, Fed. R. Civ.P. Id.
Courts often address the issue of class certification upon a plaintiffs motion for class certification,
In order to promote the expeditious determination of class certification, some districts require plaintiffs to move for class certifiсation within ninety days of filing the complaint, but this district is not one of them. See, e.g., N.D. Fla. R. 23.1(B); N.D. Ga. R. 23.1(B). On a motion for class certification, the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing the elements that support certification. London v. Wal-Mart Stores,
A court’s ruling on a motion for class certification is not final because the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure expressly provide that an order that grants or denies class certification may be altered or amended before final judgment. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(1)(C); see also Moses H. Cone Mem’l Hosp. v. Mercury Const. Corp.,
Here, the issue of class certification is before the Court not on a motion for class certification under Rule 23 but, rather, on Nova’s Motion to Strike Plaintiffs class-action allegations from the Complaint pursuant to Rule 12(f).
Nova also relies on Vinole v. Countrywide Home Loans, Inc.,
Nova filed the instant Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike on December 16, 2013, and the Court stayed factual discovery on February 18, 2014, pending resolution of the instant Motions. EOF No. 31. Accordingly, the instant matter is in a similar procedural posture to the Ninth Circuit eases in which a ruling on class certification was deemed to be premature. See Vinole,
Thus, though Nova invites the Court to analyze its Motion to Strike entirеly under the rubric of a Rule 23 motion, the Court deems it proper, instead, to view the Rule 23 factors through the lens of the Rule 12© standard for motions to strike. As a result, the proper inquiry upon Nova’s motion is whether Plaintiffs class-action allegations are “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 12®. The Court finds nothing redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous about allegations defining a class of all those who purchased recalled blood-glucose test strips in a product-liability Complaint against the manufacturer of those test strips. Accordingly, Nova’s motion to strike is denied.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, it is ORDERED and ADJUDGED as follows:
*701 1. Defendant Nova Biomedical Corporation’s Motion to Dismiss [ECF No. 8] is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART;
2. Defendant Nova Biomedical Corporation’s Motion to Strike Class Action Allegations [ECF No. 9] is DENIED;
3. The first class-action allegation in Plaintiffs Complaint, ECF No. 1-1 at 3-4, ¶ 15, is DISMISSED;
4. The stay in this matter, see ECF No. 31, is LIFTED;
5. The Court will separately issue a Scheduling Order in this matter.
Notes
. Though a plaintiff will typically move for class certification, the complaint's allegations of a class action themselves create a court's "independent obligation to decide whether an action was properly brought as a class action, еven where ... neither party moves for a ruling on class certification.” Martinez-Mendoza v. Champion Intern. Corp.,
. Instead of moving to strike class-action allegations under Rule 12(f), defendants sometimes move to dismiss class-action allegations under Rule 12(b)(6), Fed.R.Civ.P. See Oginski v. Paragon Properties of Costa Rica, LLC, No. 10-21720,
. The Eleventh Circuit adopted as binding precedent all decisions of the former Fifth Circuit issued prior to October 1, 1981. Bonner v. City of Prichard,
. The Local Rules of this District similarly provide district courts with the discretion to grant, deny, or postpone determination pending further discovery upon a Rule 23 motion for class certification. See S.D. Fla. L.R. 23.1(c).
. The Court does not opine on whether the alleged class could be properly certified on a Rule 23 motion for class certification.
