This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

A pharmacy customer of Ds, while driving under the influence of prescription drugs, caused an automobile accident resulting in one person's death and severe injuries to another. On June 4, 2004, Sanchez, Jr., stopped on the side of the road to fix a flat tire. Robert Martinez, Sanchez's co-worker, arrived at the scene to assist Sanchez. While Martinez and Sanchez were transferring items from Sanchez's vehicle into Martinez's vehicle, they were struck by Patricia Copening's vehicle. Sanchez died and Martinez was seriously injured. Copening was arrested for driving under the influence of controlled substances. Ps filed a wrongful death and personal injury complaint against Ds that filled multiple prescriptions for the woman driving the car. Through discovery, Ps learned that in June 2003, the Prescription Controlled Substance Abuse Prevention Task Force sent a letter to Ds that had dispensed to, and physicians who had written prescriptions for, Copening, concerning Copening's prescription-filling activities. Ds were informed that from May 2002 to May 2003, Copening had obtained approximately 4,500 hydrocodone pills at 13 different pharmacies. Ps claimed that because Ds had knowledge of the woman's prescription-filling activities, Ds owed Ps a duty of care to not fill the woman's prescriptions. Ds moved to dismiss the action. The district court granted the motion after finding that Ds did not owe Ps a statutory duty of care. Ps appealed.

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