Turner v. Boston Scientific Corporation et al

Filing 29

ORDER granting 25 motion to stay. The parties are to provide a status report on the pendency of Plaintiff's motion on Tuesday, July 25, 2017, and every ninety (90) days thereafter. Signed by Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. on 4/27/2017. (VMF)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
CAROLYN TURNER,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 6:17-cv-338-Orl-37DCI

BOSTON SCIENTIFIC
CORPORATION; EMAI PLASTIC RAW
MATERIAL CO., LTD.; PROXY
BIOMEDICAL LIMITED; LUXILON
INDUSTRIES NV; CAMBRIDGE
POLYMER GROUP, INC.; and
SHENZHEN YFL INTERNATIONAL
LOGISTICS LIMITED,
Defendants.
_____________________________________
ORDER
In the instant action, Plaintiff asserts various claims against Defendants regarding
the procurement and sale of transvaginal mesh—a medical device designed to be
permanently implanted into women’s bodies. (Doc. 1.) Due to the pendency of similar
federal actions throughout the country, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
(“MDL Panel”) has transferred like-actions to the Southern District of West Virginia for
consolidated pretrial proceedings. (Doc. 25-1 (“Consolidation Order”).) Notably, the
Consolidation Order aims to “eliminate duplicative discovery[,] prevent inconsistent
pretrial rulings[,] and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel[,] and the
judiciary. (Id. at 3.)
Pursuant to this goal, the MDL Panel recently issued an Order conditionally
-1-

transferring this action to the Southern District of West Virginia for coordinated pretrial
proceedings in Multidistrict Litigation No. 2326. (Doc. 25-2 (“Conditional Transfer
Order”).) According to Defendant Boston Scientific Corporation (“Boston Scientific”),
Plaintiff has filed a notice opposing the Conditional Transfer Order, and her motion to
vacate is due on May 2, 2017. (Doc. 25, p. 3 n.1.) As such, Boston Scientific moves to stay
the instant action until the MDL Panel resolves the issues raised by Plaintiff’s
forthcoming motion to vacate. (Doc. 25 (“Motion to Stay”).) Plaintiff does not oppose the
Motion to Stay. (Doc. 27.)
The Court’s authority to stay proceedings derives from the “power inherent in
every court to control the disposition of the causes on its docket with economy of time
and effort for itself, for counsel, and for litigants.” Rambaran v. Park Square Enters., Inc.,
No. 6:08-cv-247-Orl-19GJK, 2008 WL 4371356, at *2 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 22, 2008) (quoting
Landis v. N. Am. Co., 299 U.S. 248, 254 (1936)). But “[w]hen a district court exercises its
discretion to stay a case pending the resolution of related proceedings in another forum,
the district court must [properly limit] the scope of the stay.” Ortega Trujillo v. Conover &
Co. Commc’ns, 221 F.3d 1262, 1264 (11th Cir. 2000). Such stay must not be indefinite. See
id.
Upon consideration, the Court agrees that a limited stay would conserve judicial
resources, prevent duplication of the litigants’ efforts, and streamline the resolution of
this federal action. Importantly, the requested stay is sufficiently limited in scope, agreed

-2-

to by the parties, 1 and consistent with the rationale set forth in the MDL Panel’s
Consolidation Order.
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:
1.

Defendant Bostic Scientific’s Time-Sensitive Motion to Stay All Proceedings
Pending Resolution of Plaintiff’s Opposition to the JMPL’s Conditional
Transfer Order to MDL No. 2326 (Doc. 25) is GRANTED.

2.

This action is STAYED pending the MDL Panel’s decision on Plaintiff’s
forthcoming motion to vacate.

3.

The parties are DIRECTED to:
a.

Provide a status report on the pendency of Plaintiff’s motion on
Tuesday, July 25, 2017, and every ninety (90) days thereafter; and

b.

Immediately notify the Court upon the MDL Panel’s resolution
of Plaintiff’s motion to vacate the Conditional Transfer Order.

4. The Clerk is DIRECTED to terminate all pending motions and deadlines
and administratively close the file.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Orlando, Florida, on April 27, 2017.

1

action.

Plaintiff and Boston Scientific are the only parties that have appeared in this
-3-

Copies to:
Counsel of Record

-4-