DeBouse v. Bayer A. G.

              1
NOTICE
Decision filed 10/09/08. The text of
this dec ision may be changed or
corrected prior to the filing of a
Petition for Rehea ring or the
disposition of the same.
NO. 5-06-0077
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
FIFTH DISTRICT
________________________________________________________________________
TERESA DE BOUSE, Individually and On ) Appeal from the
Behalf of Others Similarly Situated, ) Circuit Court of
) St. Clair County.
Plaintiff-Appellee, ))
v. ) No. 04-L-53
)
BAYER AG, BAYER CORPORATION, )
SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION, )
d/b/a GLAXOSMITHKLINE, )
GLAXOSMITHKLINE PLC, MARCY GRIM, )
MICHAEL HARVEY DAVIDSON, M.D., )
and MICHAEL LEVER, ) Honorable
) Michael J. O'Malley,
Defendants-Appellants. ) Judge, presiding.
________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE DONOVAN delivered the opinion of the court:
A class action complaint sounding in consumer fraud was filed in the circuit court of
St. Clair County by the plaintiff, Teresa De Bouse, individually and on behalf of other
similarly situated Illinois residents, alleging that the defendants, Bayer AG, Bayer Corp.,
SmithKline Beecham Corp., doing business as GlaxoSmithKline, GlaxoSmithKline PLC,
Marcy Grim, Michael Harvey Davidson, M.D., and Michael Lever, committed common law
fraud and violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (the
Consumer Fraud Act) (815 ILCS 505/1 et seq. (West 2004)), in concealing negative safety
and efficacy data on a pharmaceutical product it offered for sale in Illinois. The St. Clair
County circuit court granted the plaintiff's motion to certify the case as a class action. The
circuit court denied the defendants' motion for a summary judgment, but it certified three
questions of law for appellate review pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 308(a) (155 Ill. 2d R.