Opinion ID: 1819124
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Consolidation Order

Text: The pharmaceutical manufacturers [5] argue that Ex parte Duncan Construction Co., 460 So.2d 852 (Ala.1984), mandates reversal of a trial court's consolidation or severance order whenever the trial court fails to set forth particular facts or findings in support of its conclusion that consolidation or severance would not result in juror confusion and prejudice. GSK's petition at 4. The pharmaceutical manufacturers further argue that the trial court in this case violated the mandate of Duncan by failing to set forth particular facts or findings as to the potential for juror confusion and prejudice caused by consolidating the cases for trial. We disagree. Duncan involved a petition for the writ of mandamus seeking to set aside a trial court's order under Rule 14, Ala. R. Civ. P., severing a third-party claim from a consolidated action. Duncan, 460 So.2d at 854. Even if Duncan serves as authority in cases involving consolidation under Rule 42, Ala. R. Civ. P., Duncan does not stand for the proposition that this Court will reverse a trial court's order consolidating cases for trial under Rule 42(a) if the trial court's order does not set forth detailed facts in support of its conclusions regarding juror confusion and prejudice. In Duncan, this Court stated: While the order states that the court `finds that the case will be unduly complicated and very difficult for the jury to comprehend' if the third-party claims are allowed, nowhere does the court set out particular facts or findings in support of its conclusion, nor does the record support such a conclusion. ... ....  We find no factual or legal grounds supporting the trial court's conclusions. We are constrained, therefore, to hold that the court's severance of all third-party claims was done in an arbitrary manner and amounts to an abuse of that court's discretion. Duncan, 460 So.2d at 854 (emphasis added). Thus, in Duncan, the trial court did not state grounds or findings regarding the potential for juror confusion, and this Court considered whether there was support for the trial court's conclusion. After reviewing the materials before it, this Court set aside the trial court's severance order, not because the order failed to set forth particular facts or findings, but because this Court determined that the order lacked an actual basis in law and fact. This conclusion is supported by Ex parte R.B. Ethridge & Associates, Inc., 494 So.2d 54, 58 (Ala.1986), in which this Court described its reasoning in Duncan as follows: After careful review, it seems to us that the Court in Duncan was able to determine from the record no support whatsoever in favor of the trial judge's severance order. [6] The pharmaceutical manufacturers also argue that the trial court failed to satisfy the guidelines set forth in Justice Lyons's special concurrence in Novartis I and that in not doing so the trial court exceeded its discretion. In Novartis I, Justice Lyons cautioned the trial court that, if it considered consolidation under Rule 42, Ala. R. Civ. P., it should not do so in the manner it had previously done so, when it placed the defendants into procrustean bed[s] of trial groups determined by undisclosed reports of special masters, without revealing the rationale behind the groupings and without any principled basis apparent in the trial court's order or in the record. Justice Lyons warned that, if the trial court used the same approach to consolidation under Rule 42(b), then the State's burden would be greatly increased should the defendants seek a writ of mandamus. Novartis I, 975 So.2d at 305. In its order, the trial court states: A review of the pleadings filed in these actions reveals that the State's allegations against each [pharmaceutical manufacturer] present identical claims and legal theories of recovery. Specifically, the State' s second amended complaint asserts the same claims of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraudulent suppression, wantonness, and unjust enrichment against each defendant. In addition, based upon the expert disclosures filed by the State and attached as an exhibit to its motion to consolidate, it appears that the expert testimony which the State anticipates to present at trial will be the same for all defendants, as will the State's model and methodology for proving its alleged damages. . . . . Similarly, the answers of the [pharmaceutical manufacturers] to the State's second amended complaint reflect that these defendants have asserted eighteen common factual and legal affirmative defenses to the State's claims, including the following: statute of limitations; repose, laches, estoppel, and waiver; standing; failure to satisfy federal regulatory requirements; federal preemption; political question doctrine; and filed rate doctrine. Given the commonality of the claims and defenses presented in these actions, the Court concludes that separate trials against each of the [pharmaceutical manufacturers] would be largely duplicative and inefficient. . . . . Another significant fact common to all defendants is that each of them participates in the State of Alabama's Medicaid program. Consequently, it is anticipated that, the State's case against all defendants  regardless of the number of trials  will necessarily address facts common to all defendants including the operations of the Alabama Medicaid Agency, the structure of the Alabama Medicaid Agency's reimbursement system, and the defendants' participation in and practices and procedures concerning the reimbursement program. Additionally, there are the common facts that each defendant reported its prices for the drugs at issue to certain price reporting services, namely First DataBank (`Blue Book') and Medical Economics, Inc. (`Red Book') and that the Alabama Medicaid Agency allegedly relied on these reported prices to reimburse providers. As such, evidence demonstrating facts common to all defendants will be presented at these trials including evidence as to how the price reporting services operate and the interaction between the Alabama Medicaid Agency and the price reporting services by which the defendants' reported prices are obtained and utilized. Based upon these common questions of fact, it is anticipated that the State will present the same evidence and testimony at each defendant's trial. As previously referenced, the expert disclosures submitted by the State reflect that the State expects to present the same expert testimony from the same expert witnesses to establish liability and to calculate damages at each trial. State's brief at Exhibit C. The parties briefed the issues; the trial court considered the parties' arguments; and the trial court issued an order setting forth its reasoning for ordering a consolidated trial of the State's claims against AstraZeneca, GSK, and Novartis. Moreover, the trial court's order is sufficient for us to review whether the decision to consolidate these cases is supported by a principled basis in law and fact. The trial court's consolidated order is not due to be reversed on the basis that the findings therein are insufficient; thus, the pharmaceutical manufacturers have not demonstrated that they have a clear legal right to the order sought or that the trial court had an imperative duty to perform and refused to do so. Therefore, they are not entitled to the writ of mandamus on this issue.