UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ______________

No. 22-1411 ______________

PACIRA BIOSCIENCES, INC., Appellant

v. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS, INC.; EVAN D. KHARASCH; NASIR HUSSAIN; RICHARD BRULL; BRENDAN SHEEHY; MICHAEL K. ESSANDOH; DAVID L. STAHL; TRISTAN E. WEAVER; FARAJ W. ABDALLAH; BRIAN M. ILFELD; JAMES C. EISENACH; RODNEY A. GABRIEL; MARY ELLEN MCCANN ______________

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (No. 2-21-cv-09264) U.S. District Judge: Honorable Madeline C. Arleo ______________

Argued March 6, 2023 ______________ Before: SHWARTZ, BIBAS, and AMBRO, Circuit Judges. (Filed: March 24, 2023) Michael Bern Allen M. Gardner Gregory G. Garre [ARGUED] Sarah Gragert Latham & Watkins 555 11th Street, N.W. Suite 1000 Washington, DC 20004

Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellant John A. Boyle Kevin H. Marino Marino Tortorella & Boyle 437 Southern Boulevard Chatham, NJ 07928 Michael B. Carlinsky Kaitlin P. Sheehan Ellyde R. Thompson Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan 51 Madison Avenue 22nd Floor New York, NY 10010 Robert Schwartz Kathleen M. Sullivan [ARGUED] Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan 865 South Figueroa Street 10th Floor

2 Los Angeles, CA 90017

Counsel for Defendants-Appellees David S. Bloomfield, Jr. Porter Wright Morris & Arthur 41 South High Street Suite 2900 Columbus, OH 43215

Counsel for Defendants-Appellees Nasir Hussain, Brendan Sheehy, Michael K. Essandoh, David L. Stahl, and Tristan E. Weaver Eugene Volokh UCLA School of Law 385 Charles E. Young Drive Los Angeles, CA 90095

Counsel for Amicus Appellee Foundation for Individual Rights in Education Inc. Leonard A. Nelson American Medical Association Office of General Counsel 330 North Wabash Avenue Suite 39300 Chicago, IL 60611

Counsel for Amici Appellee American Medical Association and Medical Society of New Jersey

3 Aaron A. Nichols Steven E. Tiller Whiteford Taylor & Preston Seven Saint Paul Street 19th Floor Baltimore, MD 21202

Counsel for Amicus Appellee American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics Elizabeth A. McNamara Alison B. Schary Davis Wright Tremaine 1251 Avenue of the Americas 21st Floor New York, NY 10020

Counsel for Amici Appellee Association of American Publishers Inc., International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers and Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Aaron D. Lindstrom Barnes & Thornburg 171 Monroe Avenue N.W. Suite 1000 Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Counsel for Amicus Appellee Council of Medical Specialty Societies

4 ______________

OPINION OF THE COURT ______________

SHWARTZ, Circuit Judge.

Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (“Pacira”) sued the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Inc. (“ASA”), the editor-in-chief of its medical journal, and the authors of three articles for statements made about one of Pacira’s drug products. 1 Pacira claims that the statements constitute trade libel. Because the District Court correctly concluded that the statements that form the basis of Pacira’s trade libel claim are nonactionable opinions, Pacira has failed to state a basis for relief. We will therefore affirm.

I

A

This trade libel action arises out of allegedly false and misleading statements about liposomal bupivacaine, a non- opioid pain medication that Pacira manufactures under the

1