Montgomery v. Wyeth

Angela Montgomery (plaintiff) sued Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Wyeth) (defendant) after she developed primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) from ingesting Fenphen, a combination diet-drug therapy. Fenphen contained Pondimin, a diet drug that was manufactured by Wyeth. Pondimin had an expiration date of three years from the month of manufacture and was not sold directly to consumers. In January 1997, Montgomery began taking Pondimin. Montgomery was a Tennessee resident and would travel to Georgia to receive prescriptions for Pondimin because Pondimin was not sold in Georgia at the time. Wyeth withdrew Pondimin from the market in September 1997, and Montgomery stopped using Pondimin in August 1997. In 2005, Montgomery was diagnosed with PPH and filed suit in Tennessee state court. Wyeth moved for summary judgment, arguing that Montgomery’s claim was barred by Tennessee’s statute of repose (TSOR), which required an action against a product manufacturer or seller to be brought within one year after the expiration of the anticipated life of the product. The district court granted Wyeth’s motion. Montgomery appealed, arguing that the district court erred in applying Tennessee law because the relevant choice-of-law principles dictated that Georgia law should govern. Montgomery also argued that because the products she was dispensed did not have an expiration date on them, the TSOR could not be applied.