Payton v. Abbott Laboratories: An Analysis of the Massachusetts DES Class Action Suit

1980 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-282
Author(s):  
Susan E. Silbersweig
Keyword(s):  
In Utero ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
Class Action ◽  
District Court ◽  
Court Judge ◽  
First Case

Abstract In Payton v. Abbott Laboratories, U.S. District Court Judge Walter J. Skinner recently granted class certification to an action brought by twentyseven Massachusetts women against major manufacturers of DES. This is the first case in which a judge has interpreted the requirements of Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to allow women exposed in utero to DES to sue as a class to determine liability for their injuries. This Note reviews the Payton certification in light of prior class action decisions involving DES and other types of claims, and of legal commentary on Rule 23. This Note contends that Judge Skinner’s application of the Rule 23 requirements in Payton was procedurally correct, and recommends the class action device as an effective method for litigating such controversies. Finally, this Note analyzes the implications of this landmark ruling for plaintiffs seeking class certification in DES suits and in suits presenting analogous factual situations.

scholarly journals L'inconstitutionnalité des pouvoirs du protonotaire spécial

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 429-454
Author(s):  
Serge Bouchard ◽  
Marie-Michèle Lavigne ◽  
Pascal Renauld
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
District Court ◽  
Privy Council ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Court Judge ◽  
Administration Of Justice

The office of special prothonotary was created in 1975 by an amendment to the Code of Civil Procedure. The main purpose of the change was to ease the administration of justice before the courts. For this reason, the special prothonotary received many assignments which were reserved until then to a judge sitting in chambers and even to the court itself. Such transfer of duties and powers may conflict with section 96 of the BNA Act, which acts as a bar to prevent the withdrawal of judicial functions from a superior, county or district court. This paper deals with the interferences between various sections of the Code of Civil Procedure and section 96 of the BNA Act. The first part of the paper deals with the approach adopted by the courts. The true test, according to the case-law, is to determine the nature of the function involved. Since only judicial functions are protected by section 96, it is intravires the Legislature of Quebec to confer on a board or tribunal administrative or ministerial powers. If the transfer involves judicial functions, the courts will use the test adopted by the Privy Council in Labour Relations Board of Saskatchewan v. John East Iron Works and by Sir Lyman Duff in In re Adoption Act, and examine whether the transferee is analogous to a superior, district or county court. The courts will also have to apply the « 1867 statute books test » : was the particular function conferred to the prothonotary before 1867 ? If the results of each of the two tests are affirmative, then the function is one protected by section 96 of the BNA Act and its transfer is ultra vires the provincial Legislature. If the results are negative, the courts will examine if the provisions involved have the effect of vesting in the special prothonotary the powers of a superior court judge. If the courts conclude that it is so, then, the assignment is ultra vires the powers of the provincial Legislature. The second part deals with each of the assignments transferred to the special prothonotary. These are threefold in nature: 1. Actions by default to appear or by default to plead under article 195 C.C.P. ; 2. Jurisdiction under article 44.1(1) C.C.P. ; 3. Interlocutory or incidental proceedings, contested or not, but, if so, with the consent of the parties. The paper concludes that most of the provisions dealing with the duties and powers of the special prothonotary are unconstitutional

Plessy vs. Ferguson

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney Borup
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
United States Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
District Court ◽  
United States Supreme ◽  
Legal Decision ◽  
Court Judge ◽  
Legal Power ◽  
John Howard

Plessy vs. Ferguson is a legal decision made by the United States Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of ‘separate but equal’ laws popular in the post-Civil War South. In June 1892 Homer Plessy, a man with one-eighth African blood, was arrested for violating Louisiana’s ‘equal but separate’ clause when he sat in a railway car designated for white passengers. Louisiana district court judge, Justice John Howard Ferguson, upheld the arrest, claiming a state had the legal power to regulate railroads operating within its borders.

Recent Case Developments in Health Law

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 160-167
Author(s):  
Stacy Clark
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Protection ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Wholesale Price ◽  
Pharmaceutical Products ◽  
Class Action ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
District Court ◽  
Cancer Drug ◽  
Average Wholesale Price ◽  
Pharmaceutical Pricing

In September 2009, the First Circuit Court of Appeals decided Blue Cross & Blue Shield v. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, part of the class action suit known as In re Pharmaceutical Industry Average Wholesale Price Litigation. The First Circuit upheld a Massachusetts District Court finding that AstraZeneca violated Massachusetts’ consumer protection laws by manipulating the “average wholesale price” of its physician-administered injectable cancer drug Zoladex, leading to overpayment by the government, third-party payers, and consumers. This case, which highlights the persistent tension between pharmaceutical pricing flexibility and consumer protection, has important implications for similar pending class actions.Between 1991 and 2003, Medicare, as well as many private insurance companies, pegged reimbursement for certain pharmaceutical products to a national “average wholesale price” (AWP) for each drug. Although the amended 1991 Medicare Part B regulations3 that introduced the term “average wholesale price” failed to define it explicitly, there is some indication in the legislative history that AWP was intended to refer to the prices that physicians and pharmacists actually pay to the drug manufacturers.

Alexander Thom (1775–1845): From Army Surgeon to Settlement Founder

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Ross D. Petty
Keyword(s):  
Medical Practice ◽  
Medical Service ◽  
Medical Practitioner ◽  
District Court ◽  
Land Grants ◽  
Court Judge ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Justice Of The Peace ◽  
Local Politician

This paper examines the life of a 19th century medical practitioner and the impact he had on both people and society. Alexander Thom had a distinguished career as a surgeon in the British Army Medical Service before retiring to become one of the founding settlers and leaders of Perth, Ontario. There his half-pay retirement, land grants from being in the military and his medical practice enabled him to become a successful businessman-mill owner, justice of the peace, local politician and eventually district court judge. Like many doctors of his or any era, his contributions to society extended beyond his medical practice.

Law, Religion, and Restorative Justice in New Zealand

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-177
Author(s):  
Donald W. Shriver ◽  
Peggy L. Shriver
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
District Court ◽  
Police Chief ◽  
Youth Offenders ◽  
Judicial Process ◽  
Criminal Justice Agency ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Court Judge ◽  
Competent Person

A former police chief and a criminologist confirm a famous remark by Margaret Mead when they write: “The initiation of restorative reforms is often based upon the conversion of one key professional in a criminal justice agency.”New Zealand district court judge Fred W.M. McElrea personalized this rule in his account of how he stumbled on a restorative procedure in the case of a young man in Auckland, who was a Maori and son of a bishop, and who confessed to the crime of robbing a woman's purse. She happened to be a Quaker, and she appeared in court as a gesture of friendship for the offender. When the time came for sentencing, McElrea wondered out loud if there were a way for the young man to be monitored, without imprisonment, by some competent person who knew him. At that, Douglas Mansil, local Presbyterian minister, also present in the courtroom, stood and volunteered his services. Mansil had been the longtime “streetwise” pastor of a congregation in that Auckland neighborhood, known for furnishing the courts with more than a few youth offenders. Together with the Quaker victim of the crime, he kept track of the young man and reported regularly to the court. It was the beginning of McElrea's dedication to restorative justice (RJ) for young offenders in New Zealand. He and other judiciary leaders pay tribute to the influence of Howard Zehr's visit to New Zealand (NZ) in 1994 and Zehr's book, Changing Lenses, which McElrea first read during a sabbatical leave at Cambridge University. Zehr's book and his work in the U.S. had great impact on New Zealand legal officials, many of whom, like McElrea, often give him credit for inspiring shifts to RJ in their thinking about law, judicial process, and ethics.

scholarly journals Civil Procedure of Trademark Enforcement in Pakistan: A Comparative Analysis with Malaysia and USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Sohaib Mukhtar ◽  
Zinatul Ashiqin Zainol ◽  
Sufian Jusoh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Intellectual Property ◽  
The United States ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
District Court ◽  
Registered Trademark ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Civil Suit ◽  
Prompt Action

<em>Civil procedure of trademark enforcement runs in Pakistan under Trade Marks Ordinance 2001, Code of Civil Procedure 1908 and Specific Relief Act 1877. Trademark is one of the components of Intellectual Property Law, it is a mark, name, sign, smell or a sound which distinguishes goods and services of one undertaking from goods and services of other undertakings. It is required to be distinctiveness and non-descriptive, it losses its distinctiveness when owner of registered trademark does not take prompt action against its infringement. The registered trademark owner may file civil suit against infringement of his registered trademark before the concerned District Court of Law for claiming damages and obtaining injunctions. The Trademark Registry works under Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan) for registration and protection of trademarks in Pakistan. Similarly, Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) is empowered agency of trademark registration and its protection in Malaysia. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is responsible for registration and protection of trademarks in United States of America (USA). Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) is the only International Treaty which contains exhaustive provisions on trademark enforcement includes civil procedure, administrative procedure, criminal procedure, provisional and border measures. Important civil procedure of trademark enforcement issues need to be clarified in trademark law of Pakistan includes trademark infringement, trademark dilution and rectification of trademark register. This article is comparative analysis of civil procedure of trademark enforcement in Pakistan, Malaysia and USA.</em>

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