Magallanes
Magallanes v. Superior Court
Opinion
Opinion
Danielson, J.
The question presented by this petition for writ of mandate is whether punitive damages may be awarded in a case based on the market share theory of liability enunciated in Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories (1980) 26 Cal.3d 588 [ 163 Cal.Rptr. 132 , 607 P.2d 924 , 2 A.L.R.4th 1061 ] (cert. den. 499 U.S. 912 [ 66 L.Ed.2d 140 , 101 S.Ct. 286 ]) (Sindell). We conclude they may not.
Facts
Petitioner Patricia Magallanes is the plaintiff in an action to recover damages for injuries she allegedly sustained, the development of cancer, by reason of her mother’s ingestion of the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) while plaintiff was in útero. The defendants and real parties in interest (defendants) are the alleged manufacturers and distributors of a substantial share of the DES available to plaintiff’s mother at the time she ingested the substance.
In the first and fourth causes of action of her first amended complaint, plaintiff alleged, inter alia, that in manufacturing and distributing the DES the defendants acted with conscious disregard of the rights and safety of the general public; in her prayer she sought punitive, as well as compensatory, damages.