Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/44/1103.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 00:52:53+00:00

Document:
Patricia J. Van Horn and Crist, Griffiths, Bryant, Schulz, Biorn & Clohan for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Robert H. Sulnick as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant.
Richard J. Heafey, Peter W. Davis, James C. Martin, Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May, Richard T. Davis, Jr., Robert D. Phillips, Jr., Robert H. Roe, Adams, Duque & Hazeltine, Robert L. Rickson, Ralph A. Campillo, Robert L. Kaufman, Roxanne M. Wilson, Joseph R. Zamora, Haight, [44 Cal. 3d 1107] Dickson, Brown & Bonesteel, Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, Kevin J. Dunne, Michael F. Healy, Bruce A. Edwards, Frederick D. Baker, Gudmundson, Siggins & Stone, Richard J. Siggins, William S. Ginsburg, Tarkington, O'Connor & O'Neill, Tarkington, Carey, O'Connor & O'Neill, John D. O'Connor, Patrick J. Hogan, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, G. Edward Fitzgerald and Eric McCurdy for Defendants and Respondents.
This case presents the following questions: whether a plaintiff, in a suit for personal injury caused by a defective drug, who is unaware of any specific facts establishing wrongful conduct on the part of any drug manufacturer, may delay bringing an action until she discovers such facts; whether a claim, otherwise barred by the statute of limitations, can be revived due to our decision in Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories (1980) 26 Cal. 3d 588 [163 Cal. Rptr. 132, 607 P.2d 924, 2 A.L.R.4th 1061], in which we held that a plaintiff who is unable to identify the particular manufacturer of a fungible drug that caused injury to her can state a claim by joining defendants who manufactured a substantial percentage of the market share of the allegedly defective drug; and whether the filing of the class action in Sindell, supra, tolled the statute of limitations for members of the putative class until the class was denied certification. We answer these questions in the negative and so conclude that the suit is time-barred.
Plaintiff Jolly was born in 1951. In 1972, she first learned that while she was in utero her mother had ingested the synthetic drug estrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) for the prevention of miscarriage. Plaintiff was told in 1972 that DES daughters could suffer injuries. Therefore, she went to a DES clinic at the UCLA Medical Center for a checkup. She was diagnosed as having adenosis, a precancerous condition that required careful monitoring. In 1976, she had an abnormal pap smear and underwent a dilation and curettage, a surgical procedure to remove abnormal tissue. In 1978, plaintiff underwent a complete hysterectomy and a partial vaginectomy in order to remove malignancy. As of 1972, plaintiff was aware, or at least suspected, that her condition was a result of her mother's ingestion of DES during pregnancy.
Starting in 1972, plaintiff attempted to discover the manufacturer of the DES ingested by her mother. Efforts were increased in 1976 and 1978 when plaintiff's condition became acute. Unfortunately, the doctor who [44 Cal. 3d 1108] prescribed the drug had died, fn. 1 and plaintiff was unable to locate his records. Although the dispensing pharmacist did remember filling the DES prescription, he did not recall or have records pertaining to the specific brand used. This was not unusual since DES was a fungible drug, that is, hundreds of pharmaceutical companies made DES from a single agreed formula. The hospital where plaintiff was born was of no assistance because plaintiff's mother did not use DES while there.
In March 1980, we decided Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, and held that if a plaintiff could not identify the precise drug manufacturer of the ingested DES, she could state a cause of action against the DES manufacturers of a substantial percentage of the market share of the drug. Defendants would be liable, assuming the remaining material allegations in the complaint were proven, unless they could disprove their involvement. Almost one year after Sindell, plaintiff Jolly brought this action.
Defendants moved for summary judgment, asserting that the action was barred by Code of Civil Procedure section 340, subdivision (3), fn. 2 setting forth a one-year statute of limitations period for an action "for injury ... caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another." Although conceding the applicability of the one-year statutory period, plaintiff denied that the suit was time-barred. She asserted that the statute did not commence until she [44 Cal. 3d 1109] learned of the Sindell decision, because only then did she realize that she would be able to successfully bring her claim.
Plaintiff maintained that Sindell created a new cause of action by redefining "causation." Prior to Sindell, she claimed, only the specific manufacturer of the pills that were ingested was deemed to have "caused" the injury. After Sindell, according to plaintiff, it was the generic drug DES that "caused" the harm, and therefore all DES manufacturers were tortfeasors.
The trial court granted defendants' motion and entered judgment in their favor. The Court of Appeal reversed, relying on its earlier decision in Kensinger v. Abbott Laboratories (1985) 171 Cal. App. 3d 376 [217 Cal. Rptr. 313]. The Court of Appeal did not address Jolly's main argument, that the statute could not begin to run until after our decision in Sindell, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, except by way of a footnote declining to adopt her position. fn. 3 We granted defendants Eli Lilly and Company, Rexall Drug Company, and E.R. Squibb and Sons, Inc.'s subsequent petition for review.
As previously noted, both sides agree that the one-year limitations period of section 340, subdivision (3) applies to this case.  Both sides also agree that the common law rule, that an action accrues on the date of injury (Lambert v. McKenzie (1901) 135 Cal. 100, 103 [67 P. 6]), applies only as modified by the "discovery rule." The discovery rule provides that the accrual date of a cause of action is delayed until the plaintiff is aware of her injury and its negligent cause. fn. 4 (Sanchez v. South Hoover Hospital, supra, 18 Cal. 3d 93, 99.) A plaintiff is held to her actual knowledge as well as knowledge that could reasonably be discovered through investigation of sources open to her. (Id. at p. 101.) The parties differ as to what constitutes sufficient knowledge to start the statute running.
However, the key point in Kensinger was its determination that one "critical fact" was knowledge of some wrongful conduct. Specifically, the court held that a plaintiff may have "no knowledge of facts indicating wrongdoing by a particular defendant. In such a situation, litigation might be premature for lack of knowledge of any factual basis for imputing fault to a manufacturer rather than ignorance of supportive legal theories. ... [¶] Knowledge of the occurrence and origin of harm cannot necessarily be equated with knowledge of the factual basis for a legal remedy. ..." (171 Cal.App.3d at pp. 383-384; italics added.) Accordingly, the Kensinger court held that the statutory clock did not begin to tick until the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the facts constituting wrongful conduct, as well as the fact of her injury and its relation to DES. fn. 5 The Court of Appeal, applying Kensinger, held that it could not be said that "as a matter of law" Jolly was or should have been aware of facts establishing wrongdoing, e.g., "either failure to test or failure to warn," until within one year of the date she filed suit.
 The rule proposed in Kensinger goes too far. fn. 6 Under the discovery rule, the statute of limitations begins to run when the plaintiff suspects or should suspect that her injury was caused by wrongdoing, that someone has done something wrong to her. fn. 7 As we said in Sanchez and reiterated in Gutierrez, the limitations period begins once the plaintiff "'"has notice or [44 Cal. 3d 1111] information of circumstances to put a reasonable person on inquiry ...."'" (Gutierrez, supra, 39 Cal.3d at pp. 896-897, quoting Sanchez, supra, 18 Cal.3d at p. 101 (italics added by the Gutierrez court).) A plaintiff need not be aware of the specific "facts" necessary to establish the claim; that is a process contemplated by pretrial discovery. Once the plaintiff has a suspicion of wrongdoing, and therefore an incentive to sue, she must decide whether to file suit or sit on her rights. So long as a suspicion exists, it is clear that the plaintiff must go find the facts; she cannot wait for the facts to find her.
[5a] Plaintiff's major argument, which was summarily rejected by the trial court and the Court of Appeal, is that our landmark decision in Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, constituted the "fact" that activated the statute. Plaintiff does not dispute the general rule that ignorance of the identity of the defendant does not affect the statute of limitations. (See, e.g., Gutierrez, supra, 39 Cal. 3d 892, 899; Neal v. Magana, Olney, Levy, Cathcart & Gelfand (1971) 6 Cal. 3d 176, 194 [98 Cal. Rptr. 837, 491 P.2d 421]; Gale v. McDaniel (1887) 72 Cal. 334 [13 P. 871]; Snow v. A. H. Robins Co. (1985) 165 Cal. App. 3d 120, 127 [211 Cal. Rptr. 271]; Baker v. Hughes Aircraft Corp. (1974) 39 Cal. App. 3d 315, 321 [114 Cal. Rptr. 171, 91 A.L.R.3d 981].) However, she asserts that the rule does not apply to the facts of her case.
Plaintiff contends that prior to Sindell, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, the defective "product" was defined as the specific DES pills her mother ingested. Consequently, plaintiff could not establish a causal link between any particular manufacturer and her injury. She argues that Sindell redefined the defective "product" as generic DES, making all manufacturers of DES contributors to her injury. Thus, now she is able to establish a causal link between the harm suffered and defendants.
Defendants reply that this was not the intended effect of Sindell. They argue that Sindell merely shifted from plaintiff to defendants the burden of proving which manufacturer's drug caused plaintiff's injury.
At the same time, we did not create an entirely new tort, nor identify a new "product." Sindell merely bridged the causal gap between DES manufacturers as a group and plaintiff's injury. Where the actual manufacturer of the ingested DES is unknown, causation by joined manufacturers of a substantial share of the DES that a plaintiff's mother might have taken would be presumed, subject, of course, to each drug manufacturer's ability to rebut the presumption by proving that the actual pills in question were not its product.
From the foregoing, it is clear that Sindell did not provide plaintiff with the critical "fact" that started the limitations period. Nor did it create a new tort with an independent starting date for purposes of the statute of limitations. Rather, Sindell demonstrated the legal significance of facts already known to plaintiff. The statute had started to run for plaintiff well before Sindell was decided.
At a less legalistic but more fundamental level, plaintiff argues, with some persuasive force, that prior to Sindell she could not have prevailed on her [44 Cal. 3d 1116] suit. She notes that during the time that defendants argue her action would have been timely, McCreery v. Eli Lilly & Co., supra, 87 Cal. App. 3d 77 (overruled by Sindell, supra, 26 Cal.3d 588), effectively barred her claim. In McCreery, the Court of Appeal held that a plaintiff who could not identify the precise manufacturer of the pills ingested by her mother did not allege a cause of action. Plaintiff undoubtedly fell into this group. [6a] , [5b] The response to plaintiff's contention is that a change in the law, either by statute or by case law, does not revive claims otherwise barred by the statute of limitations.
The seminal case on point is Monroe v. Trustees of the California State Colleges (1971) 6 Cal. 3d 399 [99 Cal. Rptr. 129, 491 P.2d 1105]. Professor Monroe was fired from the California State College system for failing to take a loyalty oath. The statute requiring the oath was held constitutional in Pockman v. Leonard (1952) 39 Cal. 2d 676 [249 P.2d 267]. In view of that case, Professor Monroe did not seek judicial review of the state's action within the statutory period. We overruled Pockman in Vogel v. County of Los Angeles (1967) 68 Cal. 2d 18 [64 Cal. Rptr. 409, 434 P.2d 961], and declared the statute unconstitutional.
Shortly thereafter, Professor Monroe brought suit in part for back wages. We held that this portion of Professor Monroe's suit was untimely because a change in the law applied only to timely filed claims; the change could not revive claims already barred by the statute of limitations. (Monroe, supra, 6 Cal.3d at pp. 406-407.) Although prior to Vogel Professor Monroe was effectively precluded from bringing his claim, it was not "impossible" for him to do so. We held that "no legal obstacle barred a judicial challenge to [his] initial discharge" and that the "mere existence of a contrary precedent has never been considered sufficient to toll the statute of limitations." (Id. at p. 408, fn. 5.) (Accord, Estate of Horman (1971) 5 Cal. 3d 62 [95 Cal. Rptr. 433, 485 P.2d 785] [ability of Soviet residents to inherit a portion of a Californian's estate]; Bartman v. Estate of Bartman (1978) 83 Cal. App. 3d 780 [148 Cal. Rptr. 207] [guest statute]; Bellah v. Greenson (1978) 81 Cal. App. 3d 614 [146 Cal. Rptr. 535, 17 A.L.R.4th 1118] [duty of psychiatrist after Tarasoff v. Board of Regents (1976) 17 Cal. 3d 425 [131 Cal. Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334, 83 A.L.R.3d 1166]]; Priola v. Paulino (1977) 72 Cal. App. 3d 380 [140 Cal. Rptr. 186] [loss of consortium]; Shelton v. Superior Court (1976) 56 Cal. App. 3d 66 [128 Cal. Rptr. 454] [loss of consortium]; Bartalo v. Superior Court (1975) 51 Cal. App. 3d 526 [124 Cal. Rptr. 370] [spousal suit statute]; Lopa v. Superior Court (1975) 46 Cal. App. 3d 382 [120 Cal. Rptr. 445] [guest statute].) Precedent is in unanimous accord with this rule.
[6b] In all of the above-cited cases, the court recognized that the rule may work a harsh result. Nonetheless, it is justified in three ways. First, the [44 Cal. 3d 1117] rule encourages people to bring suit to change a rule of law with which they disagree, fostering growth and preventing legal stagnation. Second, the statute of limitations is not solely a punishment for slow plaintiffs. It serves the important function of repose by allowing defendants to be free from stale litigation, especially in cases where evidence might be hard to gather due to the passage of time. Third, to hold otherwise would allow virtually unlimited litigation every time precedent changed. For example, in Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal. 3d 804 [119 Cal. Rptr. 858, 532 P.2d 1226, 78 A.L.R.3d 393], this court held that contributory negligence was not a total bar to recovery. There were undoubtedly thousands of potential plaintiffs through the years who had been reasonably advised to the contrary by competent counsel and so failed to bring suit. Nevertheless, allowing them all to sue within a year after the Li decision would have been untenable. Courts simply are not equipped to handle cases dating back many years, eventually brought because the law has changed. This prohibition against revival of claims can obviously create a hardship on such unfortunate plaintiffs (and a windfall to fortunate defendants). However, the hardship is no greater than that incurred by plaintiffs who received an adverse final judgment based on the "old" law and are barred from relitigating their case by res judicata.
Plaintiff seeks to avoid application of the rule that contrary precedent does not toll the statute of limitations by noting that prior to each of the aforementioned cases there had been a decided policy that barred plaintiffs from the courts. Here, in contrast, no legislative or judicial policy was expressed to preclude DES victims who could not identify the manufacturer of the ingested drug from bringing suit. Plaintiff's distinction is accurate, but irrelevant. Such a policy has never been articulated as a reason to enforce statutes of limitation following changes in the law, nor does this difference justify creating retroactivity reaching back to claims barred by res judicata or the statute of limitations.
Moreover, in early 1978, plaintiff's legal situation was not as dismal as it initially appears. First, she was in no worse a position than Judith Sindell, who ultimately prevailed in changing the law. Second, there were other, more traditional theories available on which plaintiff could base her lawsuit, such as civil conspiracy or joint liability under Summers v. Tice, supra, 33 Cal. 2d 80. While it is true that these theories were not clearly meritorious (indeed they were ultimately rejected by us in Sindell, supra, 26 Cal.3d 588), they did provide plaintiff with a nonfrivolous cause of action. Although in the latter part of 1978, McCreery, supra, 87 Cal. App. 3d 77, appeared to foreclose such a suit, that case was an intermediate appellate court decision. In this regard, the last word on the subject had not been spoken, and other Courts of Appeal were free to disregard that case. Therefore, plaintiff was [44 Cal. 3d 1118] not entirely forestalled, even as a practical matter, from bringing a timely suit.
Finally, even without using any of the above theories, plaintiff could have filed a timely complaint under section 474, which allows suit to be filed against a Doe party. From the time such a complaint is filed, the plaintiff has three years to identify and serve the defendant. (See Altman v. Morris Plan Co. (1976) 58 Cal. App. 3d 951, 962-963 [130 Cal. Rptr. 397]; Staples v. Zoph (1935) 9 Cal. App. 2d 369, 370 [49 P.2d 1131].) Hence, in the instant case, plaintiff could have brought a timely Doe action, effectively enlarging the statute of limitations period for three years. Had she done so, her complaint would have been pending when Sindell, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, was decided.
[5c] In sum, plaintiff's argument that Sindell created or revived her cause of action must fail.
[7a] Relying on American Pipe & Construction Co. v. Utah (1974) 414 U.S. 538 [38 L. Ed. 2d 713, 94 S. Ct. 756] and its progeny, plaintiff argues that the filing of the class action in Sindell, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, fn. 16 tolled the statute of limitations with respect to individual members of the putative class until the class was denied certification in 1982. Defendants respond that the issue is not properly before us, as it was not raised below (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 29), a contention we reject in light of the issue's great public importance. (See, e.g., Tyre v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. (1960) 54 Cal. 2d 399, 405 [6 Cal. Rptr. 13, 353 P.2d 725].) Alternatively, defendants argue that the tolling principle set forth in American Pipe, supra, 414 U.S. 538, and followed by the Court of Appeal in Bangert v. Narmco Materials, Inc. (1984) 163 Cal. App. 3d 207 [209 Cal. Rptr. 438], has no application to the present case. We agree that American Pipe is inapplicable here.
We have repeatedly directed that in the absence of controlling state authority, California courts should utilize the procedures of rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 U.S.C.) to ensure fairness in the resolution of class action suits. (Richmond v. Dart Industries, Inc. (1981) 29 Cal. 3d 462, 469, fn. 7 [174 Cal. Rptr. 515, 629 P.2d 23]; La Sala v. American Sav. & Loan Assn. (1971) 5 Cal. 3d 864, 872 [97 Cal. Rptr. 849, 489 P.2d 1113]; Vasquez v. Superior Court (1971) 4 Cal. 3d 800, 821 [94 Cal.Rptr. [44 Cal. 3d 1119] 796, 484 P.2d 964, 53 A.L.R.3d 513].) Under rule 23, the filing of a timely class action commences the action for all members of the class as subsequently determined. (American Pipe, supra, 414 U.S. 538, 550 [38 L. Ed. 2d 713, 725].) In American Pipe, the United States Supreme Court held that, under limited circumstances, if class certification is denied, the statute of limitations is tolled from the time of commencement of the suit to the time of denial of certification for all purported members of the class who either make timely motions to intervene in the surviving individual action (id. at pp. 552-553), or who timely file their individual actions (Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker (1983) 462 U.S. 345, 350 [76 L. Ed. 2d 628, 633-634, 103 S.Ct. 2392]). Although we are not bound by the United States Supreme Court decisions (see Cartt v. Superior Court (1975) 50 Cal. App. 3d 960, 969, fn. 15 [124 Cal. Rptr. 376]; Hypolite v. Carleson (1975) 52 Cal. App. 3d 566, 582 [125 Cal.Rptr. 221]), we nevertheless consider the applicability of American Pipe (supra, 414 U.S. 538) here.
In American Pipe the State of Utah commenced a civil action, claiming that defendants conspired to rig steel and concrete pipe prices in violation of the Sherman Act. The suit purported to be a class action, brought on behalf of Utah's public agencies and others who were end users of the pipe. On defendant's motion, the district court denied class action status for failure to satisfy the numerosity requirement of rule 23(a)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The public agencies who were alleged as class members then filed motions to intervene. The court denied the motions on statute of limitations grounds. The Ninth Circuit reversed.
In Bangert v. Narmco Materials, Inc., supra, 163 Cal. App. 3d 207, the Court of Appeal extended American Pipe to apply to a class action suit against a plastics research plant seeking injunctive and monetary relief for property damage, economic loss and physical injuries. The asserted class consisted of persons living within a half-mile radius of the plant. The trial court denied class certification on grounds of insufficient community of [44 Cal. 3d 1120] interest. Thereafter the court denied as untimely plaintiffs' motion for leave to amend the complaint nunc pro tunc to add as plaintiffs 92 members of the class designated in the original complaint.
Plaintiff urges us to follow the Bangert court's extension of American Pipe so as to find that the filing of the Sindell class action tolled the statute of limitations applicable to her individual suit. To resolve this issue, we need to consider both the nature of the Sindell action and the rationale underlying American Pipe.
Judith Sindell filed suit in 1976. She purported to be suing on her own behalf and, "with respect to certain relief," on behalf of a class of women allegedly similarly situated. For herself, individually, Sindell claimed damages for specific personal injury suffered as a result of her mother's ingestion of DES during pregnancy. In her cause of action relating to the class claims, Sindell described the class as female residents of California "who have been exposed to DES before birth and who may or may not know that fact or danger, and as a result of which, have or may have contracted or in the future may contract adenocarcinoma or vaginal or cervical adenosis or precancerous tumors of the breast or cancer of the bladder." For the class, Sindell sought only declaratory relief and an order directing defendants to publicize the dangers of DES and the necessity of medical evaluations and to fund the establishment and maintenance of clinics to provide free examinations to the DES daughters.
Six years later, in 1982, the trial court denied certification. As reason, the court cited, in relevant part, the lack of commonality among class members on issues of proximate cause, extent of injury, and appropriate medical examination or treatment. fn. 17 "As a general rule," the court observed, "so-called [44 Cal. 3d 1121] 'mass accidents' or 'common disasters' are considered not appropriate for class litigation. This inappropriateness is based upon the overwhelming uniqueness of the issues stemming from the necessity for the trier to hear and determine individually each victim's injuries, his suffering, financial loss, etc. Thus even though a common question may be involved (e.g., the defendant's tort) the matter is not suitable for a class action."
The question to be asked, then, is whether the Sindell, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, mass-tort class action fits the rationale of American Pipe, supra, 414 U.S. 538. We believe the answer is no.
 This court has held that the ultimate determination of whether a class action is appropriate turns on the existence and extent of common questions of law and fact. (City of San Jose v. Superior Court (1974) 12 Cal. 3d 447, 460 [115 Cal. Rptr. 797, 525 P.2d 701, 76 A.L.R.3d 1223].) As the trial court in the present case correctly observed, mass-tort actions for personal injury most often are not appropriate for class action certification. (See Fed. Rules Civ. Proc., rule 23, supplemental note of Advisory Com., reported 28 U.S.C.A. rule 23, pp. 54-55.) The major elements in tort actions for personal injury -- liability, causation, and damages -- may vary widely from claim to claim, creating a wide disparity in claimants' damages and issues of defendant liability, proximate cause, liability of skilled intermediaries, comparative fault, informed consent, assumption of the risk and periods of limitation. (D'Amico v. Sitmar Cruises, Inc. (1980) 109 Cal. App. 3d 323 [167 Cal. Rptr. 254]; Rose v. Medtronics, Inc. (1980) 107 Cal. App. 3d 150 [166 Cal. Rptr. 16]; In re Northern Dist. of Cal., Dalkon Shield, etc. (9th Cir. 1982) 693 F.2d 847, cert. den. A.H. Robins Co., Inc. v. Abed (1983) 459 U.S. 1171 [74 L. Ed. 2d 1015, 103 S. Ct. 817]; In re Tetracycline Cases (W.D. Mo. 1985) 107 F.R.D. 719; Mertens v. Abbott Laboratories (D. N.H. 1983) 99 F.R.D. 38.) Thus, for example, in DES litigation, use of the class action device has consistently been rejected. (Mertens v. Abbott Laboratories, supra; McElhaney v. Eli Lilly & Co. (D. S.D. 1982) 93 F.R.D. 875; Ryan v. Eli Lilly & Co. (D. S.C. 1979) 84 F.R.D. 230; Mink v. University of Chicago (N.D. Ill. 1978) 460 F. Supp. 713.) California DES litigation has not departed from this trend; no reported California cases have approved DES litigation in class action form.
Our position in the present case ensures that the abuse warned of by Justice Blackmun will not occur. By refusing to extend American Pipe's [44 Cal. 3d 1125] tolling doctrine to allow the instant suit, we heed Justice Blackmun's admonishment to district judges to exercise discretion in applying the American Pipe rule in order to "prevent the type of abuse mentioned above and [to] preserve a defendant whole against prejudice arising from claims for which he has received no prior notice." (414 U.S. at p. 562 [38 L.Ed.2d at p. 731].) Because the Sindell complaint never put defendants on notice that personal injury damages were being sought on a class basis, it would be unfair to defendants to toll the statute of limitations on such personal injury actions. (American Pipe, supra, 414 U.S. 538, 553 [38 L. Ed. 2d 713, 726].) And because the Sindell complaint did not seek personal injury damages on behalf of the class, even those absent class members who were aware of that action could not reasonably have relied on the complaint as a basis for postponing their own personal injury actions. Thus, our ruling today does not result in duplicative litigation of the sort feared by the court in American Pipe, nor does it deprive rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (28 U.S.C.) of its purpose to further the efficiency and economy of litigation (American Pipe, supra, 414 U.S. 538, 553).
The judgment of the Court of Appeal is reversed. The cause is remanded with instructions to affirm the judgment of the trial court in favor of defendants.
FN 1. The doctor died prior to 1978. The record does not set forth the exact date or year of his death.
FN 2. All further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise indicated.
FN 3. The court stated: "We decline to interpret Sindell, as plaintiff proposes, as creating a new cause of action by defining generic DES as the causation element."
FN 6. We recognize that some jurisdictions have adopted rules similar to that set out in Kensinger. (See, e.g., Anthony v. Abbott Laboratories (R.I. 1985) 490 A.2d 43 (relied on in Kensinger); Dawson v. Eli Lilly & Co. (D.D.C. 1982) 543 F. Supp. 1330; Lopez v. Swyer (1973) 62 N.J. 267 [300 A.2d 563].) However, as will be shown, the rule in California is otherwise.
FN 7. In this context, "wrong," "wrongdoing," and "wrongful" are used in their lay understanding.
FN 8. To the extent that Kensinger, supra, 171 Cal. App. 3d 376, conflicts with the foregoing, it is disapproved. Of course, nothing stated herein affects the well-established rule that the ignorance of the legal significance of known facts or the identity of the wrongdoer will not delay the running of the statute.
"Q: Why at that time were you interested in obtaining more information [about the DES ingested by plaintiff's mother]?
"A: To see if I had any type of recourse.
"Q: You mean in terms of making a claim or recovering from someone for your injury?
"Q: In 1978 did you feel that you should have some kind of recourse?
"Q: You felt that someone had done something wrong to you?
"Q: And that you should be compensated for it?
"Q: You believed at that time, in 1978, that DES was a defective drug, is that right?
FN 10. See, e.g., The Cancer That Doctors Caused, San Francisco Examiner (Sept. 12, 1979); DES -- A Chemical Menace to the Unborn, San Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 18, 1978); Millions of Women to Be Notified of DES Cancer Risk, Los Angeles Times (Oct. 5, 1978); Effects of DES; Legal Battles and Human Suffering, Oakland Tribune (April 28, 1977); Major U.S. Companies Sued for Damage in Class Action, Wall Street Journal (Sept. 18, 1974); Questions and Answers about DES Exposure Before Birth (DESAD Project), Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Publication No. 76-1118 (1976); Information for Physicians, DES Exposure In Utero, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare Publication No. 76-1119 (1976); Gray v. United States (S.D. Tex. 1978) 445 F. Supp. 337; Lyons v. Premo Pharmaceutical Labs., Inc. (1979) 170 N.J. Super. 183 [406 A.2d 185]; Abel v. Eli Lilly & Co. (1979) 94 Mich.App. 59 [289 N.W.2d 20]; McCreery v. Eli Lilly & Co. (1978) 87 Cal. App. 3d 77 [150 Cal. Rptr. 730]. Indeed, plaintiff admitted in her deposition that prior to 1978 she was aware of at least one pending DES lawsuit. Further, she argues that it was McCreery v. Eli Lilly & Co., supra, 87 Cal. App. 3d 77, discussed post, that effectively precluded her from filing a timely action.
"Q: As of the time you first called Mr. Schulz's firm in 1980, had you learned anything new about your mother's use of DES of which you were not aware in 1978?
"A: Not that I remember.
"Q: Had you learned anything about the drug DES, that is its use or the manufacture, testing of the drug, the effect of the drug, during that period of time between March '78 and the time you contacted the attorney in 1980?
"Q: During that same period of time had you learned any information as to what company made the drug?
"Q: Is it correct then that the only thing that you learned new or differently pertaining to DES or your injury between March of 1978 and the time you called the attorneys in 1980 was that the Court ruled you could file a lawsuit even if you couldn't identify the manufacturer?
FN 13. Plaintiff's failure to file suit despite her suspicion of wrongdoing is not surprising in the context of this case. By her own admission, her real reason for delaying action was that she did not know whom to sue, not that she did not know whether to sue. See discussion, post, this page.
FN 14. In Summers, we held that an innocent plaintiff who could not identify which of two negligent hunters shot him, but was sure that one of them was the culprit, could bring suit by joining both. The burden then shifted to each defendant to show that he did not cause the injury.
FN 15. Such a result surely would be beneficial to plaintiffs. For example, some drug companies are judgment proof or beyond the court's jurisdiction. Under plaintiff's interpretation of Sindell carried to its logical extreme, that would not prevent a plaintiff from recovering from other DES manufacturers even if she knew that they did not produce the ingested DES. However, such a result is foreclosed.
FN 16. We take judicial notice (Evid. Code, § 452, subd. (d)) of the pleadings, files, and orders filed in Sindell (L.A. County Super. Ct., No. C169127) and in Rogers v. Rexall Drug Co., et al. (Ventura County Super. Ct., No. 61220), consolidated with Sindell on appeal (see Sindell, supra, 26 Cal.3d at p. 597).
FN 18. Although in Rogers v. Abbott Laboratories, consolidated with Sindell, supra, 26 Cal. 3d 588, on appeal (see id. at p. 597), plaintiff Maureen Rogers evidently asked for the same legal relief on behalf of the class as for herself (see id. at p. 596), this is not clear from the complaint, nor does plaintiff rely on Rogers as having tolled the statute of limitations. However, even if the Rogers allegations were sufficient to include the class in claims for personal injury, for the reasons hereinafter stated relating to the inappropriateness of the class action device in litigating personal injury claims, such would not alter the result in this case. We observe, moreover, that plaintiff's complaint was filed considerably more than one year after class certification in Rogers was denied, thus precluding her reliance on Rogers in any event.
FN 20. Insofar as Bangert v. Narmco Materials, Inc., supra, 163 Cal. App. 3d 207, is inconsistent with our holding, that case is disapproved.

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