Hawaii AG Case Against Bristol-Myers Squibb Sent Back to State Court Under CAFA

Deceptive advertising claims brought by Hawaii’s attorney general against the maker of the drug Plavix will head back to state court because the state suit doesn’t qualify as a class action removable under the Class Action Fairness Act (Hawaii v. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., 2014 BL 195627, D. Haw., No. 1:14-cv-00180).

Defendants haven’t had much success arguing that parens patriae actions can be removed under CAFA. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that AG actions also don’t fit the mold for “mass actions” removable under CAFA.

Judge Helen Gillmor of the U.S. District Court for the District of ...