What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-Jun-24
Effort To Launch A “Negotiation Class” For Opioid MDL
On Friday, June 14th, the plaintiff lawyers on behalf of the local governments proposed to create a "Negotiation Class" of cities and counties to seek a global settlement with drug companies accused of the opioid crisis.
According to the motion for class certification, nearly 40 local governments including the cities of Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco have moved to establish a deal with drug manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacies accused of the opioid crisis. Following the proposal, the county and municipal entities in the U.S. can participate collectively, through their representatives, in any settlement discussions that the defendants choose to conduct on a classwide basis and to vote to accept or reject any proposed resolution. The system would require approval by at least 75% supermajorities of litigating and non-litigating cities and counties, 75% of the population and 75% of the allocations to the cities and counties. It has also outlined a three-part formula for allocating settlement dollars. The three factors would include the extent of opioid sales in a given area, an area’s overdose deaths, and opioid-addicted residents.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) by U.S. cities and counties of which more than 1,600 cases are filed largely by local governments, Native American tribes, and hospitals.
60 Roundup Cases From 4 States To Be Prepared For Trial
U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria has identified nearly 60 Roundup cases from four different states to be prepared for remand and individual trial dates.
According to a pretrial order issued on June 14, seventeen claims originating in California district courts (selected by plaintiffs) and five claims transferred to the MDL from the District of Nebraska (selected by defendants), were identified to go through case-specific finding and dispositive motions over the remainder of this year for the first wave. It will be followed by a second wave, with thirty claims from Illinois district courts (selected by plaintiffs) and seven from North Carolina district courts (selected by defendants), which could be set for remand by mid-2020. The Court will issue a separate order discussing the timeline and procedure for severing multi-plaintiff cases. According to the court documents, plaintiffs should submit Plaintiff Fact Sheets (including all relevant authorizations) 10 days from the issue of the order for the first wave and 21 days for the second.
Bayer AG overtook Monsanto last June and is currently defending about 15,000 Roundup cancer lawsuits filed nationwide. At least 1,300 of the Roundup cases are pending in the federal court system. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria is presiding over all the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.
Two U.S. Marines File Lawsuits Against 3M Earplugs
Two plaintiffs filed product liability lawsuits against 3M Earplugs Company and Aearo Technologies, LLC, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on June 12, indicating that earplugs issued to them caused them to suffer from permanent hearing damage following military service.
According to the court document, the plaintiffs joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2009 and 2011, respectively. They stated that they did not have any hearing loss or tinnitus before using the earplugs, and the usage led to bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus or persistent ringing in the ears. The plaintiffs have further stated 3M was aware of design problems with earplugs, as they were too short to properly fit the ear effectively; however, the company still continued to sell the earplugs to the U.S. Military. The number of individual product liability 3M Combat Arms lawsuits is expected to increase dramatically in the coming months as more U.S. military veterans learn that hearing loss and tinnitus may be the result of defective military earplugs.
U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers is presiding over more than 640 injury lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2885 (In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M.
Structure Proposed For Opioid Crisis Settlement
On June 17, plaintiffs filed a motion seeking certification for a negotiation class, a new structure that will be representing all 24,500 cities and counties in the United States as part of an opioid settlement.
As per the attorneys representing cities and counties nationwide, the new structure may help settle thousands of claims against manufacturers and distributors, which would bring much-needed relief to every community in the U.S. According to the proposed plan, any community can opt out, and those who remain can vote on any potential settlements, with a required percentage of 75% for the claims to go to the judge overseeing the claims. The opioid settlement fund would be divided based on three factors: the extent of opioid sales in a given area, an area’s overdose deaths, and opioid-addicted residents.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) by U.S. cities and counties, each seeking damages for costs associated with addiction and abuse.
Monsanto Files A New Motion To Overrule The $2B Verdict
According to Monsanto, repeated misconduct by plaintiffs’ counsel influenced jurors who awarded more than $2 billion to a couple in California in the trial over Roundup herbicide; now Monsanto seeks to overturn the May 13th verdict or to reduce the award.
Monsanto filed a motion for a new trial on Monday. According to the defendant's attorney, the verdict did not reflect as per the evidence presented in the case; it was based on inflammatory, fabricated, and irrelevant evidence from the plaintiffs' lawyer. The defendant has also raised other issues like the impact of pretrial publicity on jurors and due process concerns about the $2 billion punitive damages verdict; $1 billion each.
This was the third trial out of 13,400 pending lawsuits. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria overlooks the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.
Plaintiffs Ask Merck To Submit Data On Zostavax Vaccine
According to a motion filed this month, Plaintiff Executive Committee (PEC) indicated that Merck has refused or delayed to provide adverse reports which include details of injuries, complications, and other negative experiences reported by doctors and patients after receiving the Zostavax vaccine.
The plaintiffs requested the court to force the defendant to turn over the data regarding various Zostavax vaccine problems and to produce their standard operating procedures related to adverse event reports. The opposition response filed by the defendant this week claimed that the plaintiffs’ request was overly broad, arguing that they only had to produce adverse event reports involving the same injuries mentioned in the lawsuits filed till date.
Merck & Co. faces nearly 600 product liability claims, each raising similar allegations that the drugmaker failed to warn about the problems associated with the vaccine which the plaintiffs claim was not sufficient to reduce the reactivation of the dormant virus in some people, resulting in severe and persistent shingles outbreaks, as well as various auto-immune disorders. Zostavax litigation is centralized before U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
J&J To Be Sole Responsible In Talc Punitive Damages Trial
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) will face a new trial on the issue of punitive damages, following the $12 million awarded in compensatory damages to a plaintiff on June 12, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma due to exposure to talcum powder. Recently, Judge Frank Roesch rejected the request from J&J to involve Colgate and Avon in punitive damages.
During a hearing in Oakland, California, the judge set July 8 for the opening argument and rejected J&J's request to wait until it has filed an expedited appeal. Also, the judge rejected J&J's argument that the new jury should be told about the decision from the previous jurors that J&J and Colgate-Palmolive, both were at 40% fault, with the remaining 20% against Avon, which made up the compensatory verdict. The woman's case was given trial preference because she is dying of mesothelioma, and ordered jury selection to begin as soon as possible.
J&J is facing nearly 14,000 talcum powder lawsuits, each raising a common allegation that asbestos exposure from the company’s talc-based products causes ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. Hon. Freda L. Wolfson, U.S.D.J., and Hon. Lois H. Goodman, U.S.M.J., is presiding over all J&J's talcum powder multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2738; In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation) in the District of New Jersey.
Ethicon Mesh Alleged For Infections, Recurrent Hernia
On June 13, a Florida woman filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and its Ethicon subsidiary for selling defective and substandard hernia mesh implants.
According to the court documents, the woman underwent surgery to implant a medium-sized version of the Prolene Hernia System in February 2005. Four years later, the surgeons had to remove the hernia mesh following infections, recurrent hernia, and other complications allegedly caused due to the implant. The lawsuit also indicates the woman was at a higher risk of severe complications during abdominal surgery and warns that she may be unable to undergo further abdominal surgeries even if needed. The said failure in the plaintiff’s device was due to the misleading marketing and warrant about the mesh design and composition.
All Ethicon hernia mesh lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2327 (In Re: Ethicon Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation). Similar allegations have been raised against Bard hernia mesh and Atrium C-Qur mesh. Bard hernia mesh lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2846; Atrium C-Qur mesh lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2753.
Lawsuit Filed Over Generic Drug Makers Of Valsartan
A recent complaint filed by a plaintiff on June 14 in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey indicated that he received contaminated valsartan pills for years, which allegedly contained known human carcinogens and resulted in the diagnosis of bladder cancer.
The lawsuits named different generic drugmakers as defendants, including Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical, Princeton Pharmaceutical, Solco Healthcare US, Aurobindo Pharma, Walmart, and 100 other unidentified companies. The plaintiff indicated that he received various different generic valsartan pills between May 2015 and May 2018, which were discovered to be contaminated with Nitroso-dimethylamine (NDMA), N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), or other nitrosamine compounds that are known to increase the risk of cancer.
Since July 2018, a series of generic valsartan recalls have been issued by different manufacturers due to the presence of NDMA and NDEA, which had contaminated much of the U.S. supply of the hypertension drug distributed in recent years. A number of generic valsartan lawsuits were filed in recent months by individuals who indicated that they were left with a number of other types of cancer, including liver cancer, kidney cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other injuries following exposure to NDMA or NDEA.