Opinion ID: 214223
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: background, prior proceedings, and jurisdiction

Text: For purposes of this appeal, we accept as true the facts alleged in the complaint. See Cariajano v. Occidental Petroleum Corp., 626 F.3d 1137, 1142 (9th Cir.2010) (citing Vivendi SA v. T-Mobile USA, Inc., 586 F.3d 689, 691 n. 3 (9th Cir.2009)). Plaintiffs are elderly residents of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, who each suffered grievous injuries in October 2007 after undergoing eye surgery in that Mexican state. Specifically, between October 11, 2007, and October 16, 2007, each of the eight Plaintiffs had cataract surgery performed on one eye by a Mexican surgeon with twenty-five years of experience and a specialization in cataract surgery. Within hours after completion of their surgeries, each Plaintiff contracted a severe case of bacterial endophthalmitis, and suffered severe pain in the affected eye. Plaintiffs further suffered symptoms of red eyes filled with runny puss, fevers, nausea, and vomiting. Plaintiffs were treated at local hospitals for their injuries, some for several weeks. Ultimately, physicians were compelled to remove the infected eye of three of the Plaintiffs, and the other five went completely blind in the affected eye. Plaintiffs allege that their injuries were caused by Defendant's defective Healon viscoelastic product, which was used in all of the eye surgeries. Defendant manufactured, or subcontracted manufacture of, the Healon product used in each of the surgeries. After the Plaintiffs' surgical complications occurred, unopened batches of Defendant's Healon product were tested and found to be infected with a virulent strain of bacteria that causes endophthalmitis. Plaintiffs initially filed suit against Defendant in the Central District of California. Defendant's [1] corporate headquarters and its principal place of business are located in Santa Ana, California. Defendant does not have a place of business, nor is it domiciled, in Mexico. The district court dismissed this case on forum non conveniens grounds on April 2, 2009, finding that Mexico was an available and adequate forum because Defendant agreed to submit to the jurisdiction of the Mexican courts. The district court's order of dismissal did not include conditions or a return-jurisdiction clause to become effective in the event Mexico's courts declined jurisdiction. Plaintiffs filed this appeal on June 5, 2009. On June 22, 2009, Plaintiffs commenced litigation against Defendant in the Mexican federal district court in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The parties do not dispute that during the pendency of this appeal, the Mexican Federal District Court dismissed the Plaintiffs' case for lack of jurisdiction. That dismissal was affirmed by the Mexican Federal Court of Appeals. Plaintiffs then filed a federal constitutional challenge in Mexico before the Amparo court, which also affirmed the Mexican Federal District Court's dismissal of the case on November 12, 2009. The parties dispute the reasons for the Mexican courts' dismissal of the Plaintiffs' complaint filed there. [2] We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. The district court's dismissal of this case on forum non conveniens grounds is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Piper Aircraft Co. v. Reyno, 454 U.S. 235, 257, 102 S.Ct. 252, 70 L.Ed.2d 419 (1981); Lueck v. Sundstrand Corp., 236 F.3d 1137, 1143 (9th Cir.2001).