What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-Oct-07
Pharma. Giant Slammed With More Than $40M Verdict
On Friday, a 12-member California jury in Los Angeles passed a $40.3 million verdict in favor of a couple. The jury held Johnson & Johnson (J&J) liable for causing the woman to develop mesothelioma.
According to a complaint filed in June 2017, the woman was exposed to respirable asbestos fibers post using J&J’s Baby Powder and Shower to Shower talcum powder, which became a contributing factor in the development of her malignant mesothelioma. The plaintiffs alleged that J&J failed to safely design, manufacture, and sell its Baby Powder and Shower to Shower products. The lawsuit further claimed that the pharmaceutical giant failed to warn people about the health hazards of using asbestos-laden talcum powder. The complaint also alleged a loss of consortium due to the damages caused.
Other defendants who were all dismissed included Avon Products Inc., Brenntag North America Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Imerys Talc America Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC.
The verdict states, J&J will pay $1.2 million in economic damages for past and future medical bills, $6.5 million for past non-economic damages, $12.6 million for future noneconomic damages, and $20 million for Phil Cabibi's damages. The jury did not award the couple any punitive damages. J&J said that it would pursue an immediate appeal of the verdict.
Earlier, four plaintiffs who developed mesothelioma from inhaling asbestos allegedly present in Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) cosmetic talc products were awarded $37.3 million from a six-member New Jersey state court jury.
Two mesothelioma-related trials are also in progress in California state court in Los Angeles. A jury selection is also underway in the state’s first cosmetic talc trial and ovarian cancer case since a trial last year in Missouri, in Georgia state court in Atlanta, which ended in a $4.7 billion verdict.
Delaware trial court also awarded a summary judgement to Union Carbide Corp in a similar lawsuit. The jury issued the ruling in the company's favour as it cleared its stand in the asbestos case by saying that it relied on Georgia-Pacific to warn the end-users of its joint compound products.
The country's first asbestos lawsuit was filed in Newark (NJ) in 1929. The lawsuit was disqualified in 1934, but many such lawsuits surfaced following the stint. Johns-Manville Corporation was one of the biggest companies that were targeted by these lawsuits. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1982.
Websites Warned to Stop Illegal Sales of Opioids by FDA, DEA
Four online networks, operating a total of 10 websites, have come under the radar of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who have jointly issued warning letters to each network stating an immediate stop to illegal selling of opioids to American consumers.
The Acting FDA Commissioner stated, “as the FDA works to forcefully tackle the opioid crisis on all fronts, we cannot allow rogue online pharmacies to continue to fuel the crisis by illegally offering opioids for sale and circumventing the important safeguards that have been put in place for opioids to help protect the public health.’’
According to the FDA, these networks posed an opportunity for patients to buy prescription medications from illegal online pharmacies thereby putting their health at risk as the products may be counterfeit, contaminated, or expired. The letter accused the networks of illegally marketing “unapproved and misbranded” versions of opioid medicines, including tramadol, which violates the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The warning further exposed the risk of credit card fraud, identity theft, and computer viruses.
Each of the companies has a period of 15 working days to respond, stating the specific actions to be taken by them to address the violations noted in the warning letters, failing which they may be subject to legal enforcement action.
The joint action by the FDA and DEA strengthens the federal government’s commitment to enhance interagency coordination to respond to the opioid crisis. Additionally, U.S. prosecutors in Texas have charged fifty-eight people for being involved in healthcare fraud schemes concerning the illegal distribution of more than 6 million opioid pills.
J&J Settles Ohio County Opioid Crisis Lawsuits for Over $20M
To settle the ongoing legal battle over the opioid overdose crisis, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced a $20.4 million deal with Cuyahoga and Summit counties. According to the deal, J&J will pay the counties $10 million in cash, reimburse $5 million for legal costs, and put $5.4 million toward opioid-related nonprofit programs. J&J has agreed to settle without admission of liability.
J&J decided to settle just days before it was to face a bellwether trial, scheduled for October 21, against Cuyahoga and Summit counties along with other opioid manufacturers and distributors named as defendants.
Allergan and Endo, two other opioid drugmakers, have already settled claims with the counties just days after OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, announced it was declaring bankruptcy due to opioid crisis litigation costs. Cuyahoga and Summit counties still have claims against AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, Teva Pharmaceuticals, McKesson Corp. and Henry Schein Inc.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 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 on September 14, attorneys representing drug manufacturers and distributors filed a motion for the disqualification of US District Judge Dan Polster from opioid litigation hearings.
The companies claimed that the judge has been biased against them during the trials over the past 21 months. Two groups of defendants include the retailers Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, and CVS, and the drug distribution companies Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen, and McKesson who filed the motion. The motion comes before a critical hearing that has been scheduled for September 23, in Cleveland before Judge Polster.
A lead lawyer for the plaintiffs believes that the defendants are trying to delay the trials by appealing for such a motion. A law professor expert even stated that the move could result in the new federal judge issuing the litigation in the defendants' favour.
Meanwhile, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, failing to resist the pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits that allege the company fueled the opioid epidemic.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 opioid lawsuits merged under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation).
Ethicon Physiomesh Bellwether Trial Pushed to June 22, 2020
U.S. District Judge Richard Story, presiding over all federal Ethicon Physiomesh lawsuits, in the Northern District of Georgia, recently announced an almost two-month delay for the beginning of the first Ethicon Physiomesh Trial.
The court issued an amended practice and procedure order on September 23, after hearing the comments and considering the proposals of the parties relative to case management, indicating the first trial to begin on June 22, 2020, which had earlier been set for April 2020.
By January 27, 2020, the court will decide the manner of trial, the order of selection for plaintiffs, and the timing of additional trial cases. The order further indicated the Daubert motions challenging the admissibility of expert witness testimony would be due in each trial case by February 24, 2020, with a pre-trial conference to be set before the first trial.
Ethicon Physiomesh is a multi-layered, flexible surgical hernia mesh manufactured by J&J’s subsidiary Ethicon. Currently, more than 2,000 product liability lawsuits over Ethicon Physiomesh remain pending in the federal court system as part of MDL No. 2782. Allegations include the drugmaker sold defective and dangerous product causing plaintiffs to suffer severe abdominal pain, infection, hernia recurrence, adhesions, perforations, erosion, and other injuries associated with a hernia mesh failure.
Manufacturers of other polypropylene products introduced in recent years, namely Bard hernia mesh, Covidien Parietex mesh, Atrium C-Qur, and a few others, are facing similar allegations in various courts across the nation.
Earlier, Judge Peter G. Sheridan of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey declined to dismiss product liability and personal injury claims involving Ethicon Inc.'s hernia mesh.
The Texas plaintiff received a mesh implant in 2011, to repair his inguinal hernia. Eventually, the plaintiff experienced multiple infections and chronic abdominal pain that resulted in the removal of the implant in January 2017. In December 2018, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Ethicon.
The company argued that the plaintiff filed a lawsuit pretty late and asked the jury to dismiss the case. However, the plaintiff maintained that the statute of limitations didn’t run until his revision surgery in January 2017.
In an order published September 11, Judge Sheridan notified the defense can raise a motion only where it affirmatively appears on the face of the complaint that the action pleaded is barred by the statute of limitations.