## Facts

- Copley Pharmaceutical, Inc. manufactured Albuterol inhalation solution.
- In early 1994, Copley recalled four lots after they were found contaminated with *Pseudomonas fluorescens* and allegedly other contaminants.
- Plaintiffs alleged exposure to the recalled product caused respiratory infections, pneumonia, respiratory distress, and in some cases death.
- Numerous suits were filed nationwide in state and federal courts and were centralized in a federal multidistrict litigation in the District of Wyoming.
- The court previously certified a nationwide class for adjudication of liability issues.
- Copley moved to decertify the class, arguing that a nationwide mass-tort class was improper and unmanageable because the claims would require applying the substantive tort laws of many states.

## Issues

1. Whether a previously certified nationwide products-liability class should be decertified as unmanageable because adjudication would require applying the laws of multiple states.
2. Whether Rule 23(b)(3) predominance and superiority are satisfied in a prescription-drug contamination mass-tort where individualized injury and damages issues exist.

## Decision

- The court denied Copley’s motion to decertify and maintained the nationwide liability class.
- The court concluded that common liability questions about contamination and Copley’s conduct predominated over individualized issues.
- The court held that potential differences in state law did not, by themselves, make class treatment unmanageable or inferior to other methods of adjudication.
- The court determined that class treatment remained a superior method for resolving common liability issues for geographically dispersed claimants arising from the same recalled product lots.

## Legal Principles

- Rule 23(b)(3) predominance may be satisfied where a single course of conduct and a common alleged defect or contamination generate common liability issues, even if injury, causation, and damages vary among class members.
- Manageability concerns arising from multi-state choice-of-law questions do not automatically defeat class certification; courts may address variations through case-management tools such as grouping similar laws, subclasses, and limiting class treatment to genuinely common issues.
- Superiority may favor class treatment when many claimants are dispersed nationwide and centralized adjudication can reduce duplication, promote consistent outcomes on shared liability questions, and conserve judicial resources.

## Conclusion

The court refused to decertify a nationwide Rule 23(b)(3) liability class arising from a recall of allegedly contaminated Albuterol, holding that shared liability questions predominated and that choice-of-law complexity and individualized damages issues did not render the class action unmanageable or inferior.


In re Copley Pharm., Inc., “Albuterol” Prods. Liab. Litig., 161 F.R.D. 456 (D. Wyo. 1995)