backFritz Zimmer and Matt Blaschke represented an international insulin manufacturer in personal injury litigation filed in Florida state court. Plaintiff was a participant in a clinical trial of a new long-acting insulin and claimed he suffered severe eye damage resulting from his use of the product. He sued the doctors and research facility involved with the study as well, claiming they failed to properly screen him. The plaintiff asserted claims for negligence and civil conspiracy and sought a seven-figure award, claiming that his alleged injury (though pre-existing) had been worsened and was now irreversible.
King & Spalding quickly removed the case to the Southern District of Florida prior to service on the resident co-defendant doctors and thereby avoided the "forum defendant rule." We then attacked the Complaint through a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, arguing that: 1) all of plaintiff's claims boiled down to "medical negligence" and plaintiff failed to comply with Florida's mandatory pre-suit requirements for such claims, 2) plaintiff's civil-conspiracy claim failed as a matter of law, and 3) plaintiff failed to comply with the Twombley/Iqbal pleading standard. The Court granted the motion with leave to amend. Plaintiff then refiled his action, this time asserting claims for breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. We moved again for dismissal under Rule (12)(b)(6) and argued that plaintiff's updated claims remained subject to Florida's pre-suit requirements and that his amended complaint still failed to state viable claims. The Court agreed and dismissed the amended complaint with prejudice, bringing an end to the matter.