What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-Nov-11

Cook Medical Defends Its Products Over Recent IVC Verdict

The recent $33 million verdict by a Philadelphia jury to a woman who was injured using a blood filter manufactured by the company Rex Medical has resulted in Cook Medical to release a statement defending their IVC filter devices.

The recent IVC filter verdict won by the plaintiff, a Georgia resident, was one of its first trials by a Philadelphia jury, where the plaintiff won $1,045,764 million in future medical expenses and $2,322,650 million in future pain and suffering, along with $30,315,726 in punitive damages.

Cook Medical is facing more than 7,000 cases as of 16 September 2019, in Indiana federal court, and C.R. Bard is facing more than 8,600 in Arizona federal court. Cook Medical won the first IVC filter trial in 2017, which was followed by two losses in May 2018 and February 2019.

U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell determined about 600 Bard IVC filter cases are ready to be returned to different federal district courts nationwide for individual trial dates.

According to the Suggestion of Remand and Court Order (PDF) issued on August 20, the cases are being remanded as thousands of cases pending in the MDL have settled or are near a settlement, and the remaining cases would no longer benefit from centralized proceedings.

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will now take into account to remand unresolved claims, and the cases are expected to be reassigned to various individual judges to set trial dates if agreements are not reached by the parties to settle the cases.

An Inferior vena cava filter (IVC filter), earlier popularly known as Greenfield filter, is a medical device implanted in the inferior vena cava just below the kidneys to capture blood clots, preventing them from reaching the heart and lungs, thereby, safeguarding against life-threatening pulmonary emboli (PE). IVC filters were cleared for use through the 510(k) process since 1976. However, in 2010 the FDA issued a device safety communication after reviewing more than 900 adverse events related to the devices over a period of five-years.

More than 8,000 product liability lawsuits were filed against C.R. Bard, consolidated under MDL No. 2641 presided by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell. Each lawsuit had similar allegations that plaintiffs suffered pain and potential complications when the small devices moved out of position, penetrated internal organs, or fractured, causing small pieces to travel throughout the body.

Bankruptcy Judge Extends Purdue's Opioid Lawsuit Protection

On Wednesday, November 6, a federal bankruptcy judge extended the temporary protection for Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family against the opioid lawsuit until April 8, 2020.

The protection will give the maker of OxyContin time to reach the proposed settlement valued between $10 billion to $12 billion. As a part of the proposal, the Sacklers have also agreed to contribute around $3 billion for the settlement from the sale of an overseas drug company it owns and surrender the control of their firm.

The defendants filed for bankruptcy on September 15, as a part of the settlement proposal with 24 states, which is opposed by the 24 states and the District of Columbia. The defendants have already settled the lawsuits with Oklahoma and Kentucky. 

Other defendants, including distributors AmerisourceBergen Corp, Cardinal Health Inc., and McKesson Corp, along with drugmakers Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc and Johnson & Johnson, proposed a settlement of $48 billion in October.

Earlier, two Ohio counties and four drug companies reached a tentative settlement of roughly $260 million at the eleventh hour to avoid an opioid trial.

The deal involves Summit and Cuyahoga counties, along with defendants AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson have vouched to pay $215 million, whereas manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay $20 million in cash, also an additional $25 million for addiction and overdose treatment. Post the settlement announcement, Walgreens is the only defendant for the Ohio trial.

The settlement will only end the lawsuits brought by Summit and Cuyahoga counties. There are still thousands of lawsuits filed by the city, county, and tribal representatives alleging the distributors and manufacturers for fuelling the opioid crisis. 

Meanwhile, in a meeting held in Cleveland, attorneys general from four states North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, along with the drug companies, are trying to close the deal, which can be worth $48 billion in cash to settle opioid cases nationally.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over the opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation), centralized by JPML last year, in the Northern District of Ohio, to aid coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Earlier Ohio attorney general and drug companies requested to impede an upcoming opioid trial accusing drugmakers of fueling the opioid crisis. The appeal was rejected by the Sixt Circuit. Mike DeWine who is Ohio’s governor opposed the bid from the attorney general stating that he would refuse any legislation that gives control over the counties’ suit, as the opioid epidemic has impacted the local governments.

More than 2,600 lawsuits are alleging that the company fueled the opioid crisis and contributed to 400,000 U.S. deaths between 1999 and 2017. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over the opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation).

Earlier, two Ohio counties and four drug companies reached a tentative settlement of roughly $260 million at the eleventh hour to avoid an opioid trial.

The deal involves Summit and Cuyahoga counties, along with defendants AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, McKesson, and Teva Pharmaceuticals. Distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson have vouched to pay $215 million, whereas manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals will pay $20 million in cash, also an additional $25 million for addiction and overdose treatment. Post the settlement announcement, Walgreens is the only defendant for the Ohio trial.

The settlement will only end the lawsuits brought by Summit and Cuyahoga counties. There are still thousands of lawsuits filed by the city, county, and tribal representatives alleging the distributors and manufacturers for fuelling the opioid crisis. 
Meanwhile, in a meeting held in Cleveland, attorneys general from four states North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, along with the drug companies, are trying to close the deal, which can be worth $48 billion in cash to settle opioid cases nationally.

U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over the opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation), centralized by JPML last year, in the Northern District of Ohio, to aid coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Earlier Ohio attorney general and drug companies requested to impede an upcoming opioid trial accusing drugmakers of fueling the opioid crisis. The appeal was rejected by the Sixt Circuit. Mike DeWine who is Ohio’s governor opposed the bid from the attorney general stating that he would refuse any legislation that gives control over the counties’ suit, as the opioid epidemic has impacted the local governments.

Opioid Epidemic: New York Set For January Trial

Jerry Garguilo, a New York state court judge, on Wednesday, set a trial date of January 20 for the lawsuits brought by the state attorney general and the Long Island counties of Nassau and Suffolk against a group of opioid manufacturers and distributors.

The judge, overseeing opioid cases from local New York governments, selected the claims from Nassau and Suffolk counties and kept dozens of other cases on hold. Several other cities, counties, and Native American tribes are also preparing for trials in 2020, possibly in California, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

The first federal opioid trial scheduled to start in October was halted as the defendants reached settlements with the two Ohio counties who filed the lawsuit. Also, Johnson & Johnson was asked to pay $572 million by an Oklahoma judge for the nation's first opioid trial. A federal judge proposed going forward with four different trials around the U.S., but cases to go to trial is not finalized.

Earlier, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders denied a motion filed to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the Sackler family, claiming them responsible for the opioid crisis.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey had alleged Purdue Pharma, the Sackler family, and other top executives for fuelling the opioid-addiction in the state. A motion to dismiss the lawsuit was filed by the Sacklers and other board of directors members in April, claiming the lawsuit to be divisive, inflammatory and misleading.

The Sacklers argued, stating that the court lacked jurisdiction as the individuals didn't personally participate in the conduct as outlined in the lawsuit. 

Judge Sanders rejected the motion stating that it is the defendants' responsibility to be on notice of deceptive corporate conduct and to report instances of abuse and diversion where applicable. Also, Purdue's attempt to escape the lawsuit was ceased by Judge Sanders last month, where the company had argued the claims were barred by federal preemption because the addictive drugs were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Opioid lawsuits are consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) presided by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.