Milanesi et al v. C.R. Bard, Inc. et al, No. 2:2018cv01320 - Document 297 (S.D. Ohio 2021)
Court Description: MOTIONS IN LIMINE OPINION & ORDER NO. 27Defendants Motion in Limine (MIL) No. 16. Signed by Judge Edmund A. Sargus on 12/7/2021. Also docketed in 2:18-md-2846 (cmw)
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Milanesi et al v. C.R. Bard, Inc. et al Doc. 297 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO EASTERN DIVISION IN RE: DAVOL, INC./C.R. BARD, INC., POLYPROPYLENE HERNIA MESH PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION Case No. 2:18-md-2846 JUDGE EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR. Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Jolson This document relates to: Milanesi v. C.R. Bard, Case No. 2:18-cv-01320 MOTIONS IN LIMINE OPINION & ORDER NO. 27 Defendants’ Motion in Limine (“MIL”) No. 16 Defendants C.R. Bard, Inc. and Davol, Inc. filed a Motion in Limine to Exclude Evidence and Argument Concerning Defendants’ Financial Condition Until the Court Determines That Grounds for Punitive Damages Exist (Defendants’ MIL No. 16, ECF No. 174), which is opposed by Plaintiffs Antonio Milanesi and Alicia Morz de Milanesi (ECF No. 231). For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ MIL No. 16. I. Background 1 The Milanesis’ case will be tried as the second bellwether selected from thousands of cases in this multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) titled In Re: Davol, Inc./C.R. Bard, Inc., Polypropylene Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation, 2:18-md-2846. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation described the cases in this MDL as “shar[ing] common factual questions arising out of 1 For a more complete factual background, the reader is directed to the Court’s summary judgment opinion and order in this case Milanesi v. C.R. Bard, Case No. 2:18cv-01320. (ECF No. 167.) All docket citations are to the Milanesi case, 2:18-cv-1320, unless otherwise noted. Dockets.Justia.com allegations that defects in defendants’ polypropylene hernia mesh products can lead to complications when implanted in patients, including adhesions, damage to organs, inflammatory and allergic responses, foreign body rejection, migration of the mesh, and infections.” (Case No. 2:18-md-02846, ECF No. 1 at PageID #1–2.) Plaintiffs bring this action to recover for injuries sustained as a result of the implantation of the Ventralex Large Hernia Patch, alleging that Defendants knew of the risks presented by the device but marketed and sold it despite these risks and without appropriate warnings. After summary judgment, the following claims remain for trial: defective design (strict liability), failure to warn (strict liability), negligence, gross negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment, loss of consortium, and punitive damages. The relevant facts here are that Mr. Milanesi underwent surgery to repair what appeared to be a recurrent hernia but was revealed to be a bowel erosion with a fistula and adhesions, which required a bowel resection. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Milanesi suffered a high-grade post-operative small bowel obstruction that required emergency surgery. Mr. Milanesi had the Ventralex Large Hernia Patch implanted ten years earlier to repair a hernia. In Defendants’ MIL No. 16, they move to exclude under Federal Rules of Evidence 401 and 403 evidence of Defendants’ financial condition until the Court determines that grounds for punitive damages exist. (Defs’ MIL No. 16, ECF No. 174.) II. Standards “Neither the Federal Rules of Evidence nor the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure explicitly authorize a court to rule on an evidentiary motion in limine.” In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. C-8 Pers. Injury Litig., 348 F. Supp. 3d 698, 721 (S.D. Ohio 2016). The practice of ruling on such motions “has developed pursuant to the district court’s inherent authority to manage the course of 2 trials.” Luce v. United States, 469 U.S. 38, 41 n.4 (1984). “The purpose of a motion in limine is to allow a court to rule on issues pertaining to evidence prior to trial to avoid delay and ensure an evenhanded and expedient trial.” In re E.I. du Pont, 348 F. Supp. 3d at 721 (citing Ind. Ins. Co. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 326 F. Supp. 2d 844, 846 (N.D. Ohio 2004)). However, courts are generally reluctant to grant broad exclusions of evidence before trial because “a court is almost always better situated during the actual trial to assess the value and utility of evidence.” Koch v. Koch Indus., Inc., 2 F. Supp. 2d 1385, 1388 (D. Kan. 1998); accord Sperberg v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 519 F.2d 708, 712 (6th Cir. 1975). Unless a party proves that the evidence is clearly inadmissible on all potential grounds—a demanding requirement—“evidentiary rulings should be deferred until trial so that questions of foundation, relevancy and potential prejudice may be resolved in proper context.” Ind. Ins. Co., 326 F. Supp. 2d at 846; see also Koch, 2 F. Supp. 2d at 1388 (“[A] court is almost always better situated during the actual trial to assess the value and utility of evidence.”). The denial, in whole or in part, of a motion in limine does not give a party license to admit all evidence contemplated by the motion; it simply means that the Court cannot adjudicate the motion outside of the trial context. Ind. Ins Co., 326 F. Supp. 2d at 846. Relevant evidence is “evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.” Fed. R. Evid. 401. “Irrelevant evidence is” inadmissible. Fed. R. Evid. 402. A court may exclude relevant evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 “if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of . . . unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.” Fed. R. Evid. 403. Evidentiary rulings are made subject to the district court’s sound discretion. Frye v. CSX Trans., Inc., 933 F.3d 591, 598 (6th Cir. 2019); see also Paschal v. Flagstar Bank, 3 295 F.3d 565, 576 (6th Cir. 2002) (“In reviewing the trial court’s decision for an abuse of discretion, the appellate court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to its proponent, giving the evidence its maximum reasonable probative force and its minimum reasonable prejudicial value.”). III. Analysis Both parties agree that a similar issue was before this Court in the first bellwether case, Johns v. C. R. Bard, Inc., et al., Case No 2:18-cv-01509. The Court held that “the trial will be bifurcated into two separate phases, and [Defendants’] financial condition will be admissible if there is a second phase pertaining to punitive damages.” (Case No 2:18-cv-01509, MIL Order No. 1-A, ECF No. 330 at PageID #17883.) The Court adopts its previous ruling in Johns. The trial in this case will be bifurcated, and if there is a second phase pertaining to punitive damages Defendants’ financial condition will be admissible. Plaintiffs do not broadly oppose Defendants’ Motion as it relates to the punitive damages phase. (Pls’ Mem. in Opp., ECF No. 231.) In Plaintiffs’ response to Defendants’ Motion, Plaintiffs contend, as did the plaintiff in Johns, that they may be required to offer evidence of Defendants’ financial condition to establish the economic feasibility of a safer alternative design. (Id.) As the Court noted in its ruling on Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment, Florida law allows, but does not require, Plaintiffs to present evidence of an alternative design. (ECF No. 167 at PageID #13622.) In the event that this issue arises, the Court will address the issue in the context of trial. IV. Conclusion For the reasons set forth above, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ MIL No. 16 (ECF No. 174). 4 As with all in limine decisions, this ruling is subject to modification should the facts or circumstances at trial differ from that which has been presented in the pre-trial motion and memoranda. IT IS SO ORDERED. 12/7/2021 DATE s/Edmund A. Sargus, Jr. EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR. UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 5
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