What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-Oct-28
A Significant Rise In Roundup Lawsuit Expected: Bayer
The German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer is expecting that there will be a surge in Roundup lawsuits.
Bayer indicated that the size of the Roundup litigation grew dramatically following the company's three loses at trial over the past year. Earlier, the company indicated that there were more than 18,000 product liability lawsuits filed in courts nationwide. However, around tens of thousands of new claims have been brought in by individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma allegedly caused by the weedkiller, indicating that the number can go up to more than 45,000 lawsuits nationwide.
Bayer has been hit with a multi-million dollar verdict in the three cases that went to trial in the United States. Each trial ended with a massive punitive damages award as a result of the defendants' failure to warn about the cancer risk from Roundup exposure. These losses raised awareness about Roundup and its link to non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Roundup lawsuits are consolidated under federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California, presided by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.
The upcoming trial of Winston v. Monsanto in St. Louis City has been postponed by a court status conference from October 15, 2019, to February 2020. The lawsuit involves 14 plaintiffs who allege that Roundup caused them to develop Non-Hodgkin lymphoma as the manufacturers deceived them about the risk associated with the product. The case will be reevaluated in the status conference which is scheduled for February 10. Currently, Bayer faces more than 18,400 claims alleging that its product causes Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Plaintiffs Seek Prolene Mesh Consolidation In New Jersey
The plaintiffs involved in lawsuits filed against Johnson & Johnson over problems with the Ethicon Prolene Hernia System (PHS) have filed a request in New Jersey state court to consolidate and centralize all hernia mesh lawsuits.
The request for the creation of a Multicounty Litigation (MCL) was submitted on September 6, also indicating that 107 Ethicon Prolene hernia mesh implants lawsuits are currently pending in Middlesex County Superior Court. A consolidation request was submitted twice in August 2018 and May 2019, both of which were denied.
The new request proposes to centralize the lawsuits before a single judge in Atlantic County Superior Court, where multicounty litigations involving Ethicon’s Physiomesh and Proceed hernia mesh implants are already underway.
There are currently about 2,300 Ethicon Physiomesh product liability lawsuits pending in the federal court system consolidated under MDL No. 2782, presided by U.S. District Judge Richard Story.
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. In 2011, a plaintiff from Texas received a mesh implant to repair his inguinal hernia. He experienced chronic abdominal pain and multiple infections that urged him to get the implant removed in 2017. He filed a lawsuit in December 2018 against Ethicon in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey for negligence, strict product liability, breach of express and implied warranties, and violation of consumer protection laws.
$260M Tentative Deal To End Opioid Crisis
On Monday, 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.
AG Negotiate A $700M Deal With Reckitt Over Suboxone
British pharmaceutical company Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC along with the attorneys general for New York, California, Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, and Washington, negotiated a $700 million deal over Suboxone, a drug that helps reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms.
The manufacturer is alleged for illegally marketing Suboxone. Also, according to the attorneys general, the company sent a false petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration stating that the manufacturing and selling of Suboxone tablets have been stopped due to safety concerns.
The deal will end six suits from 2010 to 2014 against Reckitt in New Jersey and Virginia federal courts. The deal is part of a $1.4 billion settlement that the company made in July with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to end a probe into the sales and marketing of Suboxone Film.
The $700 million deal consists of $500 million for the federal government and about $200 million for states that opted into the civil agreement. The settlement is considered to be the largest by any drug company involved in the opioid crisis.
The United States Food and Drug Administration released safety warnings regarding opioids in 2017. It also warned about the serious death-related risks associated with opioids. The study conducted by the FDA claimed that the use of opioid results in a damaged nervous system. The research even claimed that opioid addiction should not be left untreated, as it has high risks of side effects.
Glyphosate Will Soon Be Banned In Thailand
On Tuesday, Thailand's National Hazardous Substances Committee approved a ban on three highly controversial pesticides: glyphosate, paraquat, and chlorpyrifos, which will be effective from December 1, 2019.
The ban is the result of a push from the country’s agricultural industry. Glyphosate, the active ingredient of weedkiller Roundup was declared as a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency in March 2015. Exposure to glyphosate is linked to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and its various subtypes.
Austria was the first nation in the European Union to ban glyphosate. Glyphosate is banned in Vietnam, and the chemical is restricted in the Czech Republic, Italy, and the Netherlands. France condemned to remove glyphosate by 2023.
Roundup lawsuits are consolidated under federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California, presided by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria.
New Order Issued For 3M Earplug Lawsuit
The adoption of Master Complaint and Short Form Complaint over all federal 3M Combat Arms earplug lawsuits, filed by the veterans alleging hearing loss and tinnitus following military service, is approved by the U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers.
According to a pretrial order issued by Judge Rodgers on October 16, the Master Complaint and Short Form Complaint can be used to bring new military hearing loss claims. The Master Complaint includes various allegations and requests for relief brought in the claims, which allows individual plaintiffs to adopt relevant claims through a separate Short Form Complaint, which will be filed in each case. These were submitted for approval last month to prevent duplicative discovery into common issues, avoid conflicting pretrial schedules, and serve the convenience of the parties, witnesses, and the court system.
There are currently about 600 product liability lawsuits filed under MDL No. 2885 (In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M. The lawsuits are brought by military veterans who are left with hearing loss or tinnitus due to defective earplug distributed by the U.S. armed forces to all service members between 2003 and 2015.