AB and Others v John Wyeth & Brother Ltd and Others (No 2)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Judgment Date | 26 November 1993 |
| Date | 26 November 1993 |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Balcombe, Lord Justice Stuart-Smith and Lord Justice Peter Gibson
Practice - striking out actions in group litigation - cost benefit analysis by the court
Although as a general rule it was inappropriate for the court to enter into a cost benefit analysis in determining whether to strike out actions in group litigation, in a case where any benefit to plaintiffs would be extremely modest taken against the astronomical expense of defending the claims, the court was entitled to strike the actions out.
The Court of Appeal so held in a reserved judgment in dismissing an appeal brought by the plaintiffs, users of benzodiazepine drugs, against the decisions of Mr Justice Ian Kennedy on October 20, 1992 and March 15, 1993 to strike out the plaintiffs' actions against prescribers of drugs manufactured by the first and second defendants.
Mr Anthony Scrivener, QC and Mr Peter Griffiths for the plaintiffs; Mr Stephen Miller, QC and Miss Sally Smith for the health authorities; Mr Robert Owen, QC and Mr Philip Havers for the general practitioners.
LORD JUSTICE STUART-SMITH, delivering the judgment of the court, said that the appeals raised a point in relation to the power of the court in group litigation to strike out actions...
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Hodgson v Imperial Tobacco Ltd
...overall prospects of success, these claims are "viable" in the sense given to that word by the Court of Appeal in the case of A.B. v John Wyeth & Brother (No. 2) (26 November 1993) 18 BNLR 38; (iii) In deciding at an interlocutory stage of the action what directions should be made for t......
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...as the present. I would respectfully endorse and adopt as still being fully applicable what was said by Steyn LJ in AB v John Wyeth & Brothers Ltd (1992) 12 BMLR 50, 61 and quoted by Waller LJ at [15] of Davies: “The procedural powers of a judge in control of a group action are not tied to ......
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...in play, can validly have been effected by what may appear to be procedural means alone. It was said in the case of AB v. John Wyeth and Brothers Ltd [1993] 4 Med LR 1 that it is in the nature of Group Litigation that the Court is able to exercise powers which are not ordinarily available t......
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...slow to interfere with that. He draws our attention to some observations of Steyn LJ in A B & Ors. v John Wyeth & Brother Ltd. [1993] 4 Med LR 1, page 6 where Steyn LJ emphasises the desirability, in the interests of efficient case management, of the Court of Appeal refraining from......