Sutowski v. Eli Lilly & Co.

Sutowski (plaintiff) was prescribed DES, a synthetic estrogen that more than 200 companies manufactured before it was discovered to be harmful, making it impossible for her to prove which specific manufacturer's DES she had actually ingested. She sued Eli Lilly & Company (defendant), one of the many DES manufacturers, relying on the market-share theory of liability that some states had adopted in DES cases specifically to prevent injured plaintiffs from bearing the loss when the actual manufacturer could not be identified; the federal district court certified the question of whether Ohio recognizes market-share liability to the Ohio Supreme Court.