What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2020-Feb-17
Cherokee Nation Lawsuit To Be Test Case In Opioid Trials
In efforts to find a global solution for the nation's opioids epidemic, thousands of lawsuits filed against distributors and pharmacies in the Cherokee Nation are sent back to federal court in Muskogee, where it might become a bellwether test case.
Nearly 2,700 cases are pending in the federal multidistrict court in Ohio, and the Cherokee Nation's lawsuit is one of them. The Cherokee Nation case, along with City and County of San Francisco opioid case moved back to federal courts in Oklahoma and California, respectively. The juries are looking forward to establishing a track record as to how similar cases might get resolved by the courts.
The tribes of Cherokee Nation accused the opioid makers of fueling the opioid epidemic in their tribal territory. An attorney for the nation stated that there were over 350 opioid-related deaths between 2003 and 2014 in the Cherokee Nation.
Opioid distributors opposed making the Cherokee Nation lawsuit a part of the bellwether case.
Earlier, Attorney General Tim Fox filed a lawsuit against McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health over the opioids crisis in Montana, U.S.
The lawsuit alleges the two major distributors of the painkiller of causing the opioid epidemic throughout the country, which has led to addiction and death. According to the lawsuit, McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health ignored the drawbacks of the opioids, focusing only on the profits. It also claimed that the companies failed to inform the authorities about the illegal trading of the painkillers in Montana from 2006-2014. The lawsuit has even appealed for civil penalties, damages, and payment against the companies as they have violated Montana’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Act.
Sunny Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for McKesson, said that the company is at no fault for the opioid crisis, and they will effectively face the litigations. Whereas, Fox stated that McKesson and Cardinal have already paid $163 million and $98 million in similar lawsuits.
According to the reports, McKesson and Cardinal are responsible for the shipment of one-third of the opioids traded into Montana between 2006 and 2014. Fox supported the claims by stating that the volume is equivalent to 432 million pills, which shows 10-milligram opioid pills for every man, woman, and child in this state.
A study from the attorney highlight some figures and facts of the crisis like Montana ranked among the top states for per-capita opioid sales from 2006-2011. There have been 700 overdose deaths since 2000 in the state, and the drugs caused 369 deaths from 2011-2013.
On 13th January 2020, Oklahoma Attorney General announced a new lawsuit filed against three distributors of opioids namely, McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc., and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. The lawsuit stated that the companies distributed large and unreasonable quantities of opioids throughout the United States. According to the AG, there were 479 prescriptions for opioids per hour, which is enough for each adult in the state to have 156 pills.
Bayer Seeks To Reverse $86M Roundup Verdict
Attorney general for Bayer has asked the California appeals court to reverse an $86 million verdict, in which the company was held responsible for a couple's cancer caused by the glyphosate present in its weedkiller Roundup.
The lawsuit involves a couple who sprayed Roundup on their property for more than three decades to destroy weeds. A Californian jury awarded the couple $2 billion after finding glyphosate as the cause of cancer.
According to the Friday night filing with the California First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the company claimed that the verdict does not settle with the law nor with sound science.
Bayer has also appealed two other verdicts, and it is yet not clear when courts will issue rulings in those cases.
Six scheduled jury trials have been postponed in recent months, and Kenneth R. Feinberg, who is playing a mediator, has asked the court to postpone all the legal deadlines by one month for settlement talks.
"All Ohio" Unification Deal Over Opioids Nearing Approval
A deal that will unify the state and local governments against the pharmaceutical industry over “all Ohio” settlement of opioids damage claims is nearing approval.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost had a meeting following months of negotiations, which indicated that the deal would be soon made public. Both attorneys are looking forward to making a settlement with the drug industry, which would exceed $1 billion.
According to sources, local governments and attorneys representing the state have agreed for the potential division and distribution of settlement money, and the settlement would reach only after a "supermajority" of local elected officials. The settlement will pay the government to deal with the ongoing opioid epidemic and will fund effective treatment programs for addicts.
The lawsuits claim that the industry has carelessly marketed the drugs by informing only about the benefits and hiding the setbacks of the use of opioids, which resulted in many deaths throughout the country. Ohio ranks second amongst the highest death rates in the nation. According to the Ohio Department of Health, in 2018, 3,764 people died of an unintentional drug overdose.
Earlier, a group of 15 Arkansas hospitals has joined several hospitals throughout the U.S. by filing a civil suit against illegal trading, distribution, and manufacturing of opioids.
The drug overdose rate in Arkansas rose from 5.4 per 100,000 people to 14 per 100,000 people between 2000-2016. The lawsuit, filed in the Washington County Circuit Court, states that the company wrongly marketed the opioids by showcasing only the benefits and hiding the setbacks, which resulted in the crisis throughout the nation affecting the people.
The growing rate of the opioid crisis has affected many people in the country, for which the hospitals are trying their best to serve the people affected because of opioids. The compensatory treatments cost a lot to the hospitals, which has resulted in the hospitals filing lawsuits against the manufacturers and makers.
Opioid lawsuits consolidated under MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation), presided by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster.
Even Donald Trump, former President of the United States, announced the opioid crisis as a Public Health Emergency under the federal law considering the death of 72,000 Americans from its overdose in 2017. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided the necessary data and evidence to support the fact.
86 Plaintiffs Claim Side Effects of Gilead HIV Drugs
Last month 86 different plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Gilead Sciences alleging side effects of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) infused HIV drugs like Truvada, Stribild and other medications.
According to the lawsuit filed, the plaintiffs claimed that they could have evaded the unreasonably dangerous risk of kidney problems, bone fractures, and other injuries if the manufacturer had issued safer alternatives that contained different antiviral, which was available years earlier. The lawsuit further states Gilead knew that a less toxic version of the drugs could be developed, involving the antiviral tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF), yet withheld it for years and continued the sale of the more toxic versions until patent protections expired and generic equivalents were introduced.
The lawsuit is now a part of an increasing number of complaints filed by plaintiffs nationwide, who have made similar allegations against the manufacturer. The complaints are currently pending in California state court, but a growing number have also been filed in various federal district courts nationwide over the past year.
JPML To Consolidate Zantac Lawsuits
The U.S Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has decided to consolidate and centralize the growing number of Zantac lawsuits before U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg in Florida for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.
There are more than 140 product liability and class action lawsuits pending in two dozen different federal court districts nationwide. Each lawsuit has similar allegations, stating that the active ingredient in Zantac, ranitidine, produces high levels of the known human carcinogen Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). Plaintiffs claimed that exposure to the chemical for extended periods of time caused them to develop bladder cancer, kidney cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, and other forms of cancer along the digestive tract.
A citizen’s petition was filed with the FDA in September 2019, which resulted in the recall of Zantac indicating the drug should be considered a human carcinogen. In November, a group of plaintiffs filed a motion to centralize lawsuits as part of a federal MDL. Following the motion, the JPML issued a transfer order last week for consolidation.