Date: 05-10-2002

Case Style: Dee Holland and Don Hollard v. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corp., et al.

Case Number: 00-6135

Judge: Henry

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

Plaintiff's Attorney: http://www.morelaw.com/lawyers/atty.asp?f=Steven&l=Hickman&i=4928&z=74107Steven R. Hickman (James E. Frasier with him on the briefs), of Frasier, Frasier & Hickman, LLP, Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Defendant's Attorney: Grant J. Espisito of Mayer, Brown & Platt, New York, New York; Joe G. Hollingsworth (Katherine R. Latimer and Kirby T. Griffiths of Spriggs & Hollingsworth, Washington, D.C.; Richard M. Eldridge and Thomas E. Steichen of Eldridge Cooper Steichen & Leach, P.L.L.C., Tulsa, Oklahoma, with them on the brief) for Defendants-Appellees Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Sandoz, Ltd.

David A. Branscum (Glenn D. Huff with him on the brief) of Foliart, Huff, Ottaway & Bottom, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for the Defendant-Appellee HCA Health Services of Oklahoma, Inc.

Description: Dee and Don Hollander filed this products liability action in the District Court for Oklahoma County alleging that Parlodel, a drug manufactured by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals Corporation ("Sandoz"), now known as Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, and distributed by HCA Health Services of Oklahoma, Inc., doing business as Presbyterian Hospital ("Presbyterian Hospital"), caused Ms. Hollander to suffer an intracerebral hemorrhage shortly after she gave birth to the Hollanders' second child. After the Oklahoma County District Court dismissed the Hollanders' claim against Presbyterian Hospital, the remaining defendants removed the case to the federal district court. The federal district court denied the Hollanders' motion to remand the case to state court. It rejected the Hollanders' arguments that it lacked jurisdiction over the remaining claims and that the defendants' removal petition was untimely. Subsequently, the federal district court dismissed the defendant Sandoz, Ltd. with prejudice, reasoning that the holding company had its principal place of business in Switzerland and that the court lacked personal jurisdiction over it.

Finally, applying Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), the federal district court ruled that the Hollanders' expert testimony regarding the causal connection between Parlodel and intracerebral hemorrhages lacked the necessary reliability and was therefore inadmissible. See Hollander v. Sandoz Pharms. Corp., 95 F. Supp. 2d 1230, 1238-39 (W.D. Okla. 2000). As a result, the court granted summary judgment to Sandoz.

The Hollanders now appeal those rulings, arguing that: (1) the federal district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and therefore erred in denying their motion to remand the case to the Oklahoma state court; (2) the court erred in dismissing their claim against the defendant Presbyterian Hospital; (3) the court abused its discretion in ruling that the testimony of their experts was not sufficiently reliable to be admissible; (4) the court erred in granting summary judgment to Sandoz; and (5) the district court erred in dismissing their claim against Sandoz, Ltd., with prejudice.

For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the federal district court had subject matter jurisdiction. We further hold that the court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the Hollanders' expert testimony was not sufficiently reliable and that the court did not err in granting summary judgment to Sandoz. However, we agree with the Hollanders that the federal district court should have dismissed their claim against Sandoz, Ltd., without prejudice. In light of these conclusions, we do not address the Hollanders' challenge to the dismissal of their claim against Presbyterian Hospital.

Accordingly, we affirm the district court's judgment against the Hollanders and in favor of Presbyterian Hospital and Sandoz. We remand the Hollanders' claim against Sandoz, Ltd., so that it may be dismissed without prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

On July 23, 1990, Ms. Hollander gave birth by cesarean section to a healthy baby boy at Presbyterian Hospital in Oklahoma City. Because Ms. Hollander did not want to breast feed her son, her obstetrician prescribed a fifteen day course of Parlodel, to be taken in two 2.5 mg doses per day.

Parlodel is manufactured by Sandoz. The drug's active ingredient is bromocriptine mesylate, a compound derived from ergot (a naturally occurring substance made from a fungus that attacks cereal grains). The compound blocks the production of prolactin, a hormone that triggers the secretion of milk in postpartum women. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved Parlodel for the suppression of post-partum lactation in 1980, and approximately 9 million women in the United States have taken it for that purpose. See Siharath v. Sandoz Pharms. Corp., 131 F. Supp. 2d 1347, 1349 (N.D. Ga. 2001) (discussing the history of Parlodel). Parlodel is also prescribed for several other disorders, including acromegaly (a disease caused by hypersecretion of the pituitary growth hormone), Parkinson's disease, and various diseases involving the excessive production of prolactin.

Ms. Hollander received her first dose of Parlodel at 6:00 p.m. on July 23, 1990. About two hours later, her blood pressure increased sharply to 180/90. On the following day, she received her second and third doses of Parlodel, and her blood pressure returned to the normal range. She continued to take two 2.5 mg doses of the drug each day. Presbyterian Hospital discharged her on July 27, 1990.

On the evening of July 28, 1990, Ms. Hollander complained of a severe headache. By the following morning, she could neither speak nor move her right side. At Presbyterian Hospital, a CT scan revealed that Ms. Hollander had suffered an intracerebral hemorrhage in the left basal ganglia area of her brain. Ms. Hollander's treating physicians were puzzled as to the cause. One of them noted that her stroke resembled those caused by hypertension but added that Ms. Hollander had no history of the disorder. Clinical information revealed no pregnancy-related disorders involving hypertension, such as eclampsia or preeclampsia.(1)

On August 1, 1990, Ms. Hollander's condition deteriorated. As a result, her physicians performed an emergency left frontal craniotomy and removed an intracerebral hematoma. Ms. Hollander slowly improved. She remained in the hospital for over three weeks and then transferred to a rehabilitation center.

The Hollanders filed this action against Sandoz, Sandoz, Ltd., and Presbyterian Hospital in May 1995 in the District Court for Oklahoma County. They alleged that Ms. Hollander's stroke was caused by Parlodel, that the drug was unreasonably dangerous to the ordinary consumer when used as a lactation suppressant, and that Sandoz, Sandoz, Ltd., and Presbyterian Hospital had failed to warn of the dangers of the drug. They further alleged that Ms. Hollander had suffered permanent injuries.

Presbyterian Hospital filed a motion to dismiss the Hollanders' claims, arguing that a hospital could not be held strictly liable for providing a drug prescribed by a doctor. The Oklahoma County District Court granted Presbyterian Hospital's motion to dismiss in an oral ruling at an August 25, 1995 hearing. It issued a written ruling on May 10, 1996.

Sandoz filed a notice of removal on May 10, 1996. The Hollanders then filed a motion to remand the case to the Oklahoma state court, which the district court denied. See Aplt's App. vol. I, at 116-17 (District Court Order, filed June 12, 1996). Subsequently, the court dismissed the Hollanders' claims against Sandoz, Ltd., reasoning that it was a holding company incorporated in Switzerland with its principal place of business there, that it had no office, manufacturing, distribution, or sales facilities in the United States, and that it did not advertise here. As a result, the court concluded that it lacked personal jurisdiction over Sandoz, Ltd., and it dismissed with prejudice the claims against the company. See id. at 354 (District Court Order, filed Dec. 17, 1996).

The dispute between the Hollanders and Sandoz involves issues that have been raised in other litigation as well as in regulatory proceedings. See Kuhn v. Sandoz Pharms. Corp., 14 P.3d 1170, 1174 (Kan. 2001) (describing a "decade-long disagreement between Sandoz and the [FDA] concerning the use of Parlodel for the prevention of physiologic lactation"). In 1984 (four years after first approving the drug as a lactation suppressant), the FDA reported that "the labeling of Parlodel (bromocriptine) is being revised to reflect reports of postpartum hypertension, seizures, and cerebrovascular accidents." Aplt's App. vol. IV-B, at 2401-02 (FDA Drug Bulletin, vol. 14, no. 1, at 3-4). The FDA explained that it had received seven reports of hypertension alone, seven reports of seizures, and three cases of cerebrovascular accidents (including one fatality). Because approximately 500,000 women had used Parlodel to suppress postpartum lactation, however, the significance of those reports was difficult to assess. The FDA expressly acknowledged that "[a] cause and effect relationship has not been established." Id.

Sandoz eventually modified the Parlodel package insert to include information about these cases. However, the company noted that hypertension, seizures, strokes, and myocardial infarctions regularly occur in postpartum women who are not treated with bromocriptine. Thus, it maintained, "the number of cases reported to Sandoz is less that one would expect even in the absence of any drug effect." Id. at 2448 (Letter from Sandoz's Executive Director of Sales, Aug. 20, 1987).

Over the next few years, the FDA continued to receive reports of adverse reactions to Parlodel. Sandoz commissioned a study by Epidemiologic Resources, Inc., regarding the relationship between Parlodel and strokes and seizures (the "ERI study"). See Aplt's App. vol. II-D, at 1361-1532 (Kenneth Rothman, et al., "An Epidemiologic Evaluation of the Possible Relation Between Bromocriptine, Puerperal Seizures and Strokes," (Sept. 30, 1988));(2) Siharath, 131 F. Supp. 2d at 1356-57 (discussing the ERI study). Although the ERI study did not find a causal connection between strokes and seizures, the FDA concluded that the study failed to allay concerns regarding the drug's association with seizures and involved too few individuals to adequately characterize the risk of stroke.

The FDA further concluded that the possibility that Parlodel might cause serious adverse reactions in some patients outweighed the limited benefits associated with its use. As a result, it requested all manufacturers to remove the indication for lactation suppression from the Parlodel label. Initially, Sandoz refused to comply with the FDA's request, arguing that Parlodel should not be used routinely but should be available in specific circumstances recommended by physicians. Not satisfied with this position, the FDA initiated formal procedures for withdrawing its prior approval for the labeling of Parlodel. The FDA explained its position as follows:

FDA now has new information suggesting that therapeutic use of bromocriptine for the prevention of physiological lactation may lead to serious adverse experiences, including death and paralysis, in a small but significant number of patients. Patients at high risk of experiencing these serious adverse experiences cannot be adequately predetermined. In light of the limited benefit of using bromocriptine for the prevention of lactation, and the effectiveness and lack of serious adverse effects of conservative treatments such as breast binding with or without mild analgesics, the risk that bromocriptine may cause a serious adverse effect in a postpartum woman is unacceptable.

Accordingly, the Director concludes that the potential risks associated with the use of bromocriptine for the prevention of physiological lactation outweigh its limited benefits and bromocriptine is no longer shown to be safe for use in preventing physiological lactation.

59 Fed. Reg. 43347, 43351 (Aug. 24, 1994). Sandoz then agreed to FDA's proposal to withdraw the indication for the suppression of postpartum lactation.

Following the FDA's approval of Parlodel as a lactation suppressant, professional medical journals began to publish reports regarding women who had suffered heart attacks and strokes after taking the drug. For example, one of the Hollanders' expert witnesses described two patients who had suffered from cardiac dysfunction, seizures, and cerebral vasospasm. See Kenneth Kulig, "Bromocriptine Associated Headache: Possible Life Threatening Sympathomimetic Intersection," Obstetrics and Gynecology, 72: 941(1991) (Aplt's App. vol. IV-B, at 2444-46). Another expert published case histories concerning women who had suffered from heart attacks. See, e.g., Leslie Iffy, et al., "Acute Myocardial Infarction in the Puerperium in Patients Receiving Bromocriptine," American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, vol. 155, No. 2, at 371-72 (1986) (Aplt's App. vol. IV-D, at 2976-77). Medical researchers also published numerous articles reporting the effects of bromocriptine in animals. See Siharath, 131 F. Supp. 2d at 1366-69 (discussing animal studies), Glastetter v. Novartis Pharms. Corp., 107 F. Supp. 2d 1015, 1037-1041 (E.D. Mo. 2000) (same), aff'd, 252 F.3d 986, 991 (8th Cir. 2001). Some of the studies involved dogs, rats, and pithed animals. See id.; see also Aplt's App. vol. I-A, at 369-376 (Sandoz's statement of material facts, filed July 15, 1999) (discussing animal studies). Some researchers concluded that, contrary to the Hollanders' allegations regarding the effect of bromocriptine on Ms. Hollander, the drug actually decreases blood pressure. See, e.g, Saad Lahlou & Pierre Demenge, "Contribution of Spinal Dopamine Receptors to the Hypotensive Action of Bromocriptine in Rats," Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, vol. 18, 317-323 (1991) (Aplt's App. vol. II-E, at 1646-54).

As the discussion in the scientific literature continued, the controversy over Parlodel made its way to the courts. In 1994, a Kentucky jury awarded $968,512 in compensatory damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages to a woman who alleged that Parlodel had caused her stroke. See Aplt's App. vol. IV-A, at 2171 (Judgment in Roberts v. Betts, no. 89-CI-653-V, 25th Judicial Dist., Pulaski Cir. Ct., July 20, 1994). A Kentucky appellate court affirmed that judgment in an unpublished opinion. See id. at 2175-78. In contrast to the Roberts case, several recent decisions have rejected claims that Parlodel has caused strokes and heart attacks when prescribed as a post-partum lactation suppressant, concluding that the scientific evidence supporting these claims was not sufficiently reliable under Daubert.(3) However, several other decisions have reached the opposite conclusion.(4) See generally Mark Hansen, "When Expert Testimony Fails the Test: District Courts Disagree on what Defines Causation Evidence in Drug Disability Cases," 88 ABA Journal 22 (Jan. 2002) (stating that "[an] Alabama magistrate's decision brought to eight the number of products liability suits over Parlodel that have survived a so-called Daubert challenge to the admissibility of the plaintiffs' causation evidence [b]ut [an] Illinois judge's ruling--tantamount to an order of summary judgment for the defense--marked the seventh trial or appellate decision to exclude such evidence").

In support of their contention that Parlodel caused Ms. Hollander's stroke, the Hollanders relied primarily on the testimony of three experts: (1) Dr. Kenneth

Kulig, a physician who is board-certified in toxicology and emergency medicine and who has served as the Chairman of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Director of the Porter Regional Toxicology Center at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and as an associate clinical professor in the Division of Emergency Medicine and Trauma in the Department of Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; (2) Dr. Leslie Iffy, M.D., a professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and (3) Dr. Pedro A. Jose, M.D., Ph.D., a Professor of Pediatrics, Physiology, and Biophysics at Georgetown University and an expert on the role of dopamine and dopaminergic drugs on the development of hypertension.

The parties offered deposition testimony, affidavits, expert reports, and transcripts of testimony from other cases involving Parlodel. In general, the experts' theory was that in certain women, Parlodel causes vasoconstriction (a narrowing of the blood vessels) and hypertension (high blood pressure). Vasoconstriction and hypertension, the experts reasoned, can then cause strokes, as they did in the case of Ms. Hollander.

In his written report, Dr. Kulig explained that he had reviewed Ms. Hollander's medical records, medical literature regarding bromocriptine and other ergot alkaloids, FDA documents, and marketing, promotional and research material complied by Sandoz. He concluded that Ms. Hollander suffered "an intracerebral hemorrhage secondary to ergot induced vasospasm resulting in blood vessel rupture in her brain." Aplt's App. vol. II-A, at 652 (Dr. Kulig's Sept. 22, 1998 report, at 3). He added, "It is my opinion with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that Mrs. Hollander's stroke was caused by the drug bromocriptine, and had the patient not been taking the drug, she would not have had a stroke." Id. at 653. According to Dr. Kulig, the fact that bromocriptine could cause strokes was well know to Sandoz at the time that Ms. Hollander began taking the drug. Id. at 652.

In an affidavit in another case involving Parlodel, Dr. Kulig provided a more detailed explanation as to how he had reached his conclusions. See Aplt's App. vol. II-E, at 1742-59 (Dr. Kulig's affidavit in Railey v. Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., 94-1440 (C.D. Ill.)). He noted that bromocriptine is an ergot, "a class of drugs with known molecular structures and many common properties," including the tendency to cause vasoconstriction. See id. at 1745 (stating that "[o]ne needs only to look at the package inserts from Sandoz regarding other ergot alkaloids it manufactures to understand that vasoconstriction is indeed the core property of ergot alkaloids"). Bromocriptine differs from the naturally occurring ergot alkaloid alpha ergocriptine only in that the molecule has an additional bromine atom attached to the second carbon atom of the basic ergot ring. See id.

Dr. Kulig explained the significance of the structural differences between bromocriptine and other ergot alkaloids as follows:

Although the adding of a bromine atom to the core nucleus makes the drug in some patients a vasodilator (the first dose may cause a precipitous fall in blood pressure, another fact that makes the drug unsafe in the post-partum period), it is misleading and inaccurate to suggest that the drug can never cause vasoconstriction or hypertension in any person. While the addition of a bromine atom to a very large organic molecule may change the pharmacokinetics and pharmacological dynamics of a drug, it would be unlikely to change the core properties of an ergot alkaloid from being a vasoconstrictor to a vasodilator in all cases. Clinical studies, epidemiologic evidence and adverse drug reaction experience with this drug indicates that vasoconstriction with bromocriptine unquestionably occurs, as would be expected based on the fact that it is an ergot that can cause ergotism.

Id. at 1745-46.

Dr. Kulig also discussed several other categories of evidence on which he had relied in forming his opinion. These included the pharmacological and toxicological properties of bromocriptine, studies of the relationship between bromocriptine and hypertension, and case reports concerning adverse reactions.

As to pharmacology, Dr. Kulig explained that bromocripitne is "a dopamine agonist." Id. In other words, the drug stimulates the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Dr. Kulig added that bromocriptine is also a "dopamine-1 antagonist," inhibiting the effects of dopamine at specific "D-1" receptors. Id. According to Dr. Kulig, dopamine is a well known vasoconstrictor. However, activation of the "D-1" dopamine receptors results in vasodilation. Thus, the fact that bromocriptine stimulates the release of dopamine and that it inhibits the D-1 dopamine receptors is consistent with the drug causing vasoconstriction.

Moreover, Dr. Kulig reported that bromocriptine "has a very long beta elimination half-life of about 50 hours." Id. at 1747. That means that a steady state is not achieved in someone taking the drug twice a day until about ten days after leaving the hospital. As a result, one would not expect women who have taken the drug to suppress post-partum lactation to develop hypertension and vasospasm until after their discharge from the hospital.

With regard to hypertension, Dr. Kulig referred to three studies. In the first, commissioned by Sandoz, nineteen percent of patients demonstrated increases in blood pressure after taking bromocriptine. In the second study, published by the FDA in 1984, six out of seven patients who developed hypertension while on bromocriptine regained normal blood pressure after they stopped taking the drug. Finally, a study by Dr. Dorothy Watson(5) found that women with pregnancy-induced hypertension had a higher incidence of post-partum hypertension after taking the drug than those women not receiving bromocriptine. See id. at 1748-49 (stating that "[t]his case control study provides important evidence that bromocriptine causes post-partum hypertension in women who had pregnancy-induced hypertension prior to delivery").

Finally, Dr. Kulig discussed the adverse reactions to bromocriptine that had been spontaneously reported to the FDA and Sandoz. These reactions included hypertension, seizures, strokes, and myocardial infarction. Although he acknowledged that these reports did not establish causation, he presented them as an important factor to be considered along with the other scientific evidence.

In addition to Dr. Kulig, the Hollanders also relied on the opinion of Dr. Leslie Iffy. See Aplt's App. vol. II-A, at 733-739 (Dr. Iffy's written report, July 25, 1997). Dr. Iffy concluded that there was "an overwhelming probability" that Ms. Hollander's stroke was caused by bromocriptine. Id. at 738. He listed five factors that supported his opinion: (1) Ms. Hollander had normal blood pressure during a prior pregnancy but displayed an episode of hypertension when she took Parlodel during her first childbirth; (2) she suffered episodes of hypertension during her second pregnancy and immediately after the birth of her second child; "[t]his being the case, she was predisposed for the hypertensive effect of bromocriptine"; (3) when she took Parlodel after the second pregnancy, her blood pressure increased, "in all probability a bromocriptine effect"; (4) "[t]he time of occurrence of the cerebral hemorrhage (sixth day postpartum) was highly characteristic of bromocriptine related catastrophic side effects"; and (5) "[a]part from her moderate smoking habit, the patient had no identifiable predisposing factors for cerebral hemorrhage[;] [t]he absence of evidence of congenital defect at the site of the hemorrhage further emphasizes the lack of predisposing factors on the part of the patient." Id. Dr. Iffy added that, in his view, Sandoz was aware of the dangers of Parlodel at the time that Ms. Hollander suffered her stroke. See id. at 739.

The third expert on whom the Hollanders relied--Dr. Pedro Jose--set forth a more specific theory of causation. In his written report, Dr. Jose stated, "I think that the hypertension (which caused the stroke) is probably due to Parlodel; the hypertension would not have happened if Parlodel was not prescribed." Aplt's App. vol. II-A, at 842 (Dr. Jose's report, Jan. 23, 1998). Dr. Jose acknowledged that bromocriptine often decreases blood pressure. However, in deposition testimony he explained that in instances in which extra-cellular fluid volume is increased--as is the case in pregnancy--and in which the activity of the sympathetic nervous system is decreased, bromocriptine has the "paradoxical effect of increasing blood pressure." Id. at 801.

After conducting discovery, Sandoz filed a motion to exclude the opinion testimony offered by the Hollanders' experts on the grounds that the testimony was insufficiently reliable under Daubert. In the same motion, Sandoz requested the court to grant summary judgment in its favor. It argued that, in the absence of the unreliable opinion testimony, the Hollanders could not demonstrate that there were controverted issues of material fact on the issue of whether Parlodel caused Ms. Hollander's stroke.

The federal district court granted Sandoz's motion to exclude the Hollanders' expert testimony as well as its motion for summary judgment. See Hollander, 95 F. Supp. 2d at 1235-39. The court set forth four reasons in support of its evidentiary ruling.

First, the court observed that the Hollanders' experts were unable to explain the physiological mechanism by which Parlodel caused vasoconstriction and ensuing hypertension and strokes. The court explained that "Dr. Kulig could only list possible mechanisms for Parlodel causing hypertension," that "Dr. Jose could not cite any studies or tests that proved his hypothesis that bromocriptine might cause high blood pressure," and that "Dr. Iffy also classified his opinion that Parlodel caused Mrs. Hollander's stroke as being a hypothesis, which is not held by a medical degree of certainty." See id. at 1235-36 (internal quotation marks omitted).

Second, the court reasoned that the kinds of case reports on which the Hollanders relied have been repeatedly rejected as a scientific basis for establishing causation. It stated: "The problems with case reports and adverse drug experience reports were acknowledged by Dr. Iffy--because they are not controlled studies and do not eliminate confounding variables, the reported effect or injury could be due to some other cause than Parlodel." See id. at 1237.

Third, the court found that the fact that bromocriptine belongs to a class of compounds (ergot alkaloids) that have been shown to cause hypertension did not constitute reliable causation evidence. The court observed that the Hollanders had failed to refute Sandoz's evidence that "[t]he chemical diversity of ergot alkaloids corresponds to the diversity of the biological activities of these compounds." Id. at 1238 (internal quotation marks and emphasis omitted).

Fourth, the animal studies on which the Hollanders' experts relied were too dissimilar to the facts of this case. "The studies relied upon involved different drugs, did not test the systemic effect of the drug, some of the animals were anaesthetized, and they were neither pregnant nor post-partum. . . . Doctors Jose and Kulig were unaware of any controlled animal studies in which bromocriptine caused an increase in blood pressure." Id. at 1238 (internal citations omitted).

In light of its conclusion that the Hollanders' opinion testimony was insufficiently reliable under Daubert, the district court briefly assessed the state of the record absent that testimony. It concluded that, without expert opinion testimony, the Hollanders could not demonstrate that Parlodel caused Ms. Hollander's stroke. The court therefore granted Sandoz's motion for summary judgment.

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In Daubert, the Supreme Court concluded that Rule 702 superseded the "general acceptance" standard for the admissibility of scientific evidence first set forth in Frye, 293 F. at 1014.(6) Under Daubert, when faced with a proffer of expert scientific testimony, a district court "must determine at the outset, pursuant to [Fed. R. Evid.] 104(a), whether the expert is proposing to testify to (1) scientific knowledge that (2) will assist the trier of fact to understand or determine a fact in issue." Daubert, 509 U.S. at 592. Thus, under Daubert, the district court performs an important gatekeeping role in assessing scientific evidence. See Macsenti v. Becker, 237 F.3d 1223, 1230-34 (10th Cir. 2001) (discussing the district court's gatekeeping function under Daubert).

The Daubert standard ensures that the proffered evidence is both "reliable" and "relevant." See Daubert, 509 U.S. at 589. Reliability is determined by assessing "whether the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid." Id. at 592-93. Relevance depends upon "whether [that] reasoning or methodology properly can be applied to the facts in issue." Id. at 593.

We review the district court's application of Daubert to exclude expert opinion evidence for an abuse of discretion. See General Electric v. Joiner, 522 U.S. 136, 143 (1997); Mitchell v. Gencorp Inc., 165 F.3d 778, 780 (10th Cir. 1999). Thus, we must afford substantial deference to the district court's application of Daubert. See Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 152 (1999) ("the trial judge must have considerable leeway in deciding in a particular case how to go about determining whether particular expert testimony is reliable"); Joiner, 522 U.S. at 143 (noting that the court of appeals "failed to give the trial court the deference that is the hallmark of abuse-of-discretion review"). Under the abuse of discretion standard, "a trial court's decision will not be disturbed unless the appellate court has a definite and firm conviction that the lower court made a clear error of judgment or exceeded the bounds of permissible choice in the circumstances." McEwen v. City of Norman, Okla., 926 F.2d 1539, 1553-54 (10th Cir. 1991); see also Summers v. Missouri Pacific R.R. System, 132 F.3d 599, 603 (10th Cir. 1997) (stating that, under the abuse of discretion standard, "[w]e will not disturb the trial court's determination "absent a distinct showing it was based on a clearly erroneous finding of fact or an erroneous conclusion of law or manifests a clear error of judgment").

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the Court's opinion.

Outcome: Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court in all respects EXCEPT that we REMAND the Hollanders' claim against Sandoz, Ltd. with instructions to dismiss that claim without prejudice.

Plaintiff's Experts: Unavailable

Defendant's Experts: Unavailable

Comments: None