In re DES Litigation

Women (plaintiffs) sued 33 DES manufacturers under New York's market-share liability theory for injuries from a drug their mothers took decades earlier; Boehringer (defendant), whose predecessor sold DES but which itself had no significant New York contacts, unsuccessfully sought dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction, and the judge ruled that jurisdiction and applying New York law to Boehringer were constitutional. The plaintiffs settled with the other 32 manufacturers and declined to pursue Boehringer, leading the district court to dismiss for failure to prosecute; Boehringer nonetheless appealed the earlier jurisdictional and choice-of-law rulings, fearing they could prejudice it in 42 other pending New York DES cases.