Special Master Poppiti: Motion for Protective Order DENIED

In The Medicines Co. v. Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc., C.A. No. 09-750-ER (D. Del. May 4, 2011), Special Master Poppiti recently denied defendant Hospira, Inc.’s motion for a protective order. The dispute centered on the question of whether the plaintiff was entitled to discovery of documents and testimony “relating to [defendant] Hospira’s forecasts or business plans for its ANDA products[.]” Id. at 1. Specifically, Hospira argued that the discovery sought by the plaintiff was irrelevant because the plaintiff failed to “plead jurisdiction under the Declaratory Judgment statutes.” Id. at 4. Special Master Poppiti rejected this argument, finding that the plaintiff was entitled to this discovery because (1) “[j]urisdiction must be based on diversity of citizenship or on a federal question[,]” not on the Declaratory Judgment Act, and (2) “[plaintiff] MedCo’s failure to reference the Declaratory Judgment Act in its prayers for relief is not fatal to its pleading.” Id. at 5.

The Medicines Co. v. Teva Parenteral Medicines Inc., C.A. No. 09-750-ER (D. Del. May 4, 2011)

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