What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-May-13
Direct Filing Procedures Approved For 3M Earplug Lawsuits
According to a pretrial order issued by Judge Rodgers on May 05, all future federal 3M earplug lawsuits can be filed directly in the Northern District of Florida where the multidistrict litigation (MDLNo. 2885; In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) is centralized. The order outlines the procedures for the direct filing of cases in the MDL. In accordance to this order, there will be no impact on the choice of law, including the statute of limitations, or else would have applied to an individual case had it been filed in the Designated Forum and removed and/or transferred to this court.
There are around 600 military veterans who have filed lawsuits over hearing loss allegedly linked to 3M earplugs. Further, around tens of thousands of cases are expected to be filed by veterans nationwide. A set of representative claims will be presented before a jury for the parties to gauge how the jurors respond to certain evidence and that is likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. If the parties fail to reach settlements or another resolution, individual lawsuits might be remanded back to different district courts nationwide for separate trial dates in the future.
Pinnacle-Hip Lawsuit - J&J Agrees To Pay $1 Billion
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $1 billion to resolve claims involving personal injury linked to the usage of a metal-on-metal version of DePuy Orthopaedics.
There are around 10,000 Depuy Pinnacle hip lawsuits that are currently pending in multidistrict litigation centralized in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. As per the recent agreement with Texas juries, more than 95 percent of the 6,000 cases have been resolved. J&J agreed to pay $120 million last February to settle 46 state attorneys generals’ allegations linked to ambiguous claims about the hips’ durability. In November 2013, the company had announced a $2.5 billion settlement to resolve 93,000 claims filed in connection with the DePuy ASR hip recall. The sales of metal Ultamet liner ended in May 2013, after regulatory restrictions by U.S. Food & Drug Administration. However, the sales of Pinnacle hips made from other materials were not affected.
The Pinnacle lawsuits are centralized under MDL 3:11-MD-02244, In Re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., Pinnacle Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, U.S District Court, Northern District of Texas (Dallas). Similar lawsuits are filed against other hip device manufacturers in the U.S. involving defendants Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet, Wright, and Smith & Nephew.
Monsanto Faces Class Action Over Controversial Weedkiller
A lawsuit filed against Monsanto last month in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California alleged the use of herbicide Roundup in the maintenance yard of a facility during the plaintiff's employment from 1999 to 2013 had caused his cancer.
There are around 13,500 individual Roundup lawsuits filed against Monsanto by farmers, landscapers, and other consumers. Monsanto’s claims as per EPA regulation Roundup doesn't cause cancer and can be used with some fine adjustments; also, their testing methods are more superior to World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research (IARC).
The recent lawsuit filed by the plaintiff will help seek a final and legal determination on whether glyphosate is a carcinogenic substance, which would resolve thousands of similar trials. If Bayer fails to reach settlements or another resolution, investors are nervous about the massive liability the company might have to face before juries nationwide.
The U.S. District Judge canceled a bellwether trial that was set to begin in the next month. The judge has even asked the parties to settle the litigation confidentially before the court starts looking into the individual trials.
Investors are worried about the company's fate as it may face thousands of individual claims throughout the nation if it fails to negotiate settlements or resolve the litigation.
Earlier, this year, Bayer has announced to resolve future legal claims worth up to $2 billion that claims Roundup causes cancer.
Janssen Agrees To Settle Punitive Risperdal Lawsuit
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of J&J, has agreed to settle a Risperdal case in Philadelphia to avoid punitive damages.
According to a lawsuit filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a Wisconsin resident alleged the use of Risperdal caused his gynecomastia, a hormonal condition that causes men and boys to grow female-like breasts. In December 2015, the jury awarded him $500,000 in compensatory damages stating Janssen had failed to warn about the side effects of Risperdal. However, the plaintiff was denied from pursuing punitive damages as the Risperdal mass tort program presiding in New Jersey should apply to the cases. Janssen Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in New Jersey, a state that refuses punitive damages in product liability lawsuits involving federally-approved prescription drugs. In 2015 Philadelphia Common Pleas jury awarded an Alabama man $2.5 million who alleged that he developed female-like breasts while using Risperdal. Also on July 1, 2016, a Pennsylvania jury awarded $70 million to a Tennessee teenager for similar allegations against Janssen.
Around 7,000 lawsuits based in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas and its Complex Litigation Center alleged Risperdal caused their gynecomastia. The recent ruling also meant that other Risperdal plaintiffs with cases pending in Philadelphia have a possibility to claim punitive damages against Janssen.
FDA Approved Magnevist Alleged For Multiple Organ Damages
The U.K. Royal College of Radiologists recently updated a 23-page document, which contains the risks linked to the use of gadolinium-based MRI contrast dyes, along with guidance that covers safety, prescribing, consent, identification of patients at increased risk from contrast administration, pregnancy and lactation. Magnevist is one of the eight approved gadolinium-based MRI contrast dyes for use in the United States by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
According to a case filed the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on April 26, a couple alleged that the dye Magnevist injected before undergoing an MRI scan caused a number of symptoms like confusion, weakness, fatigue, difficult and painful movement, which are commonly referred to as Gadolinium Deposition Disease. The husband also indicated that Gadolinium was deposited in his brain, heart, liver, and kidney.
Dozens of lawsuits are filed in the United States for Gadolinium Deposition Disease alleging the side effects of Magnevist, a gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) used to enhance MRI scans. The plaintiffs claimed that their kidneys were healthy when they underwent MRIs and stated the manufacturers failed to appropriate safety warnings. The manufacturers were required to provide warnings in a Medication Guide, which all patients receiving an MRI contrast dye will be asked to read after the drug safety communication was issued by the FDA In December 2017. The number of Gadolinium retention lawsuits are expected to continue to increase over the coming months and years.
J&J's 2,400 Talcum Lawsuits Transfer Request Dismissed
On May 09, 2019, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Wilmington dismissed J&J’s request to transfer 2,400 Talcum lawsuits to a federal court in Delaware. J&J had argued for the transfer last month. J&J wants to appeal for legal rights of its bankrupt talc supplier, Imerys Talc America Inc., to converge the baby powder suits before Noreika in hopes of quicker resolutions of claims that the talc-based product causes cancer.
According to the judge, J&J neither filed for bankruptcy nor established its financial distress. J&J had made the request under the legal procedure that allows personal injury tort and wrongful death claims to be transferred to the district court in the district where the bankruptcy case was filed.
J&J has been facing 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./ Hon. Lois H. Goodman, U.S.M.J. overlooks 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.
Motion Filed For 3M Lawsuit To Track Separate Class Action
According to a motion filed on May 3, Judge Rodgers urged to establish a separate track for pretrial proceedings involving 3M Earplug class action claims filed in the recent multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2885; In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation). The process is designed to avoid duplicity in pretrial schedules and for the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the court system.
Around 600 military veterans have filed lawsuits over hearing loss allegedly linked to 3M earplugs, and around tens of thousands of cases are expected to be filed by veterans nationwide. In a court order issued on May 8, Judge Rodgers specified the issue would be discussed at a case management conference to be held on June 17, and stated that the parties should be ready for the discussion at the hearing.
Apart from the individual lawsuits, seven military earplug class-action lawsuits have been filed by the military service members to seek damages caused due to defective products. The final decision of the class action lawsuits has been left to the court even though the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has considered a separate track.
The military service members claimed that the manufacturer was aware of the defects in the product, and they failed to inform the military about it risking the veterans for years.