What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Month? 2017-Aug

$150 million punitive charges on a TRT lawsuit

The very first bellwether trial for TRT lawsuits ended in a mistrial which involved a plaintiff whose allegation against AndroGel was that it caused his heart attack, thereby bringing a pause phase. But the $150 Million verdict to be paid as punitive damage by AbbVie to an Oregon man, under the claim of false marketing is big news that brings a lot of hope to the plaintiffs. Though the federal jury has not held AbbVie responsible for the alleged injury, this Chicago verdict can undoubtedly be considered as a strong signal to alert AbbVie and makes the battle turn positively towards the Plaintiffs. This verdict will now help thousands of TRT cases to move in the just and right direction. Neural IT has hands-on experience in medical reviews and can be a potential partner for law firms looking forward to litigating TRTs.

Risperdal, IVC Filters, Xarelto lawsuits

The number of cases filed for Risperdal, IVC Filters, Xarelto lawsuits is increasing as the days are passing, making them the fastest growing mass torts. The further progress of bellwether trials for these main mass torts will decide the future of thousands of cases, fingers are crossed and the wait continues.

Daiichi Sankyo Offers $300 Million to Settle Benicar Lawsuits

The Plaintiffs of Benicar MDL 2606 have been offered a settlement amount of $300 million by Daiichi Sankyo. If a 95% agreement is reached at by all the claimants, the settlement procedure will be finalized for the 2,300 cases filed under the respective MDL. The company capped the settlement at $300 million and covered only the federally-filed cases in the US district court; cases filed in New Jersey State Court are not a part of this settlement. Though the settlement may come forth, the company, however, denied any liability by this move and said it continues to believe that the claims were without merit. The fate of the settlement will be revealed soon.

Ethicon's Pelvic Mesh Victory Turns Sour

A small victory came in for a pelvic mesh litigation case for an Ohio woman. The case had proceeded to the damages hearing post losing out to the defendant Johnson & Johnson's Ethicon, last month. Judge Michael Erdos reasoned that there was enough supporting evidence provided by both sides' experts and the treating physician that the mesh was the cause of the injury which could not be denied or overlooked. Ethicon's Pelvic Mesh litigation cases are filed under MDL 2327: Ethicon, Inc., Pelvic Repair System Products Liability Litigation, presided by Honorable Judge Joseph R. Goodwin in the U.S. District Court of Southern District of West Virginia.

J&J's Ethicon faces Sixth Trial for its Mesh Products

J&J's Ethicon faces another pelvic mesh defective product case for two of its mesh products: TVT-SECUR and TVT (tension-free vaginal tape), at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. This is the sixth trial faced by the manufacturer so far. In this latest case, the plaintiff was implanted with a TVT- Secur sling for urinary incontinence in May of 2007, but due to a mid-urethral erosion, she had a corrective surgery done in July 2007, for mid-urethral erosion during which she was implanted with a TVT mesh. However, she underwent three more corrective surgeries following this. The trial is nearing a closure; it's a wait and watch situation; chances loom better for the plaintiff as Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas has passed four earlier pro-plaintiff verdicts and is viewed as favorable to Ethicon transvaginal mesh plaintiffs. Failure to warn about the potential risks and defectively designed are the major allegations faced by Ethicon in this case.

Endo settling its Transvaginal Mesh Lawsuits

Another Transvaginal Mesh manufacturer, Endo International plc (Endo), announced this August that it was setting aside an additional $775 million rounding off to a near total of $2.6 billion to resolve the remaining 22,000 Transvaginal Mesh Multidistrict Litigation lawsuits pending in the US District Court of West Virginia. This amount was in addition to the millions the company had spent earlier to settle the cases.

TVM litigation cases are one of the largest mass torts. As of now, thousands of mesh lawsuits are consolidated in West Virginia federal court through seven multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases and the remaining are filed in the state courts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Study Fuels Link of IVC Filter to Venous Thromboembolism

The safety and effectiveness of inferior vena cava (IVC) filters were questioned once again when a new study suggested that IVC filters might increase the risk of venous thromboembolism when used in patients with traumatic spine injuries as compared to the patients receiving chemoprophylaxis alone. Top New York City surgeons analyzed the data, the results of which were presented at the 2017 New York Surgical Society Meeting.

This data might prove to be pro-plaintiff and provide an additional support to the ongoing IVC filter lawsuits wherein nearly 4,000 lawsuits are filed mainly against C.R. Bard, Inc. and Cook Medical, Inc., claiming failure to provide appropriate safety warnings, including information regarding the importance of IVC filter retrieval. This October, bellwether trials are scheduled to begin at the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, against federally-filed lawsuits involving Cook Medical.

AAJ 2017 Convention... a home ground for Trial Attorneys..

A powerful action packed annual convention was organized by the ambitious AAJ team this July from 21st to 25th at Boston, MA. AAJ generally focuses and brings together Trial Attorneys from all over the country. This convention was a golden ticket for lawyers to meet with the leaders in their practice areas, join in on the lively exchanges during the many events, and earn CLE credit. This convention discussed all the upcoming mass torts and the essentials to litigate them like electronic discoveries, transcriptions, medical reviews, plaintiff facts sheets, and MDL submissions. Neural IT was also one of the active participants of AAJ and will continue providing a strong support to law firms involved in varied mass torts litigations.

Ethicon's Physiomesh Lawsuits on an Upswing

Ethicon's Physiomesh Flexible Composite Mesh lawsuits are moving ahead at a structured pace; this comes after the centralization of all the federally-filed Physiomesh lawsuits in the Northern District of Georgia this June. With this development and awareness generated, there is a rise in the number of lawsuits being filed under MDL No. 2782 in Ethicon Physiomesh Flexible Composite Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation under U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story.

The number of lawsuits filed has crossed 80+ as of July 2017, and further development is expected post the initial conference scheduled for this August. The litigation is further propelled by the news that the first bellwether case is expected to go for trial on January 22, 2018.

Court Stands by the 2015 Risperdal Verdict Amount

In early 2015, a Philadelphia jury had passed a verdict of $2.5 million in damages to be paid to a Risperdal plaintiff which was also the first verdict for the antipsychotic drug Risperdal's alleged side effect of abnormal breast growth in males, stating that the defendant failed to warn about the risks involved. Following this, the defendant, J&J's Janssen Pharmaceutical's, filed a motion seeking a new trial which was upheld by a judge in Philadelphia. Most of the Risperdal cases are pending in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania, where a small group of cases is being heard as a part of bellwether trial process. In a few cases, settlements have been reached. At least 13,800 Risperdal lawsuits are filed against J&J nationwide.

Invokana a Growing concern for Janssen

J&J's Janssen Pharmaceuticals has more than 800 product liability cases across the nation for its anti-diabetic drug Invokana. This news is confirmed by J&J's quarterly financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Invokana cases are consolidated as a part of an MDL before U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti in the District of New Jersey and the trials for a small number of bellwether cases are expected to begin in September 2018. Apart from this, several federal cases are pending in the Southern District of California and the Eastern District of Missouri, as well as state court cases, are pending in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Allegations mainly involve kidney failure, heart attacks, and diabetic ketoacidosis, with a recent addition of increased risk of leg or foot amputations following a warning released by the FDA in May 2017.

Taxotere Lawsuits Piling Up

Taxotere lawsuits witnessed a spike with almost 219 cases filed between July and August, bringing the total to almost 1,500 cases pending in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana against Sanofi-Aventis. The lawsuits are filed by individuals who allege experiencing permanent hair loss by Taxotere while on a cancer treatment.

In October 2016, Taxotere |LS|Docetaxel|RS| Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2740, was established to coordinate discovery and other pretrial proceedings under US District Judge, Kurt Engelhardt. Since then, there is a steady rise in the number of Taxotere lawsuits filed. The first bellwether trial is expected to be heard by the jury in September 2018. A Taxotere settlement conference is scheduled on June 29, 2018, ordered by Judge Engelhardt to be attended by the parties involved in the litigation; a Joint Confidential Status Report is also to be submitted following settlement negotiations by July 6, 2018.

Roundup in troubled waters

Another report released this August confirms that Monsanto was involved in influencing and curbing the release of damaging scientific data regarding the safety and efficacy of Roundup, a weed killer suspected of causing cancer. As per the report, high-level Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) executives were influenced by Monsanto to conceal the records linking Roundup as a suspected causative agent of cancer. Following this release, thousands of federally-filed mass tort litigations against Monsanto and Roundup in MDL 2741 will get a boost and would encourage more individuals to join the MDL.

Xarelto Defendants: Third Time Lucky

The third straight win for Xarelto defendants in the Xarelto MDL No. 2592 bellwether trial, boosts the defendant's stand regarding the safety and efficacy of Xarelto. Bayer released a statement saying, ''that its FDA-approved label contains accurate, science-based information on the benefits and risks of this life-saving medicine.” This decision came in by the Mississippi federal jury in favor of the defendants: J&J's Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. The plaintiff alleged that the Prothrombin Time (PT) test which is used to assess a patient's risks for bleeding, was not informed and instructed to the doctors by the manufacturers. This was opposed by the defendant's say that the PT test was not scientifically reliable.

J&J's Suffers a $417 M Loss In The First Ca. Talcum Trial

One of the largest verdicts was announced in favor of the plaintiff this August by a California jury: J&J was ordered to pay $417 which included $347 million in punitive damages and $70 million in compensatory damages, making it one of the highest verdicts amounts for a Talcum powder trial.

In January 2017, a California state judge had scheduled an early July trial for a woman who alleged that she had less than six months to live due to ovarian cancer caused by Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder. The case proceeded as per the order with evidence produced by the plaintiff's end by an epidemiologist who opined that after reviewing the general link between the use of talcum powder and ovarian cancer; he felt that the talcum could cause ovarian cancer. However, he stated that he had not reviewed the details of the case.

This was also the first trial set in the coordinated proceedings in Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Cases: JCCP 4872 in California, involving hundreds of plaintiffs. In addition to the federal lawsuits pending against J&J and other defendants, there are also around 3,000 talcum powder cancer lawsuits pending in state courts throughout the country, and similar litigations are filed in Missouri, New Jersey, and Delaware state courts, as well as New Jersey Federal Court.

Nexium Lawsuits Not Deterring Perrigo for the OTC Launch

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has finally given a go to Perrigo Company Plc., to market a store-brand equivalent of Nexium 24HR which is an OTC version of Nexium used to treat heartburns. Owing to the fact that Nexium is one of the largest selling prescription brands in the U.S., with sales crossing over $300 million in the last 12 months, Perrigo is expecting a good sales figure post the launch. However, the downside is that long-term use of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) could be harmful to the kidneys.

Other than acute interstitial nephritis, the labels have not been modified to list any other possible kidney complications. This has led to a number of PPI lawsuits filed against the manufacturer, alleging failure to provide safety warnings in spite of having knowledge about it and resulted in thousands of individuals using the product for inappropriate indications and for far longer periods of time.

Around 172 lawsuits have been filed in California, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia, etc.

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) granted the motion to centralize claims against PPIs MDL 2757 in the U.S. District of New Jersey where most of the PPI claims are currently pending to be presided by Judge Claire C. Cecchi.

With more than hundred PPI cases heading towards centralization, it is a brave move by Perrigo to plan the launch in September.

Another recent research work, presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week conference, indicated a link between PPI usage and increased risk for pancreatic cancer.

Taxotere in the News

Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug approved by the FDA for treating cancer in 1996, is currently the subject of several lawsuits in multiple states as the announcement hit the news that the first lawsuit filed under MDL 2740 Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation is set for trial in September 2018. The allegations are against drug manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis, wherein the plaintiffs allege that they were deprived of making an informed decision to select other similar drugs which lacked the risk of alopecia. Another strong allegation faced by Sanofi-Aventis is that it failed to adequately warn female breast cancer patients and doctors about the risk of permanent baldness from Taxotere.

This July, the Taxotere Plaintiffs also filed a motion to remand certain cases to three different state courts in Missouri, California, and Delaware. The cases would be chosen from more than thousands of Taxotere lawsuits already filed. However, the Plaintiffs were ordered to file a written submission regarding this at a later date. The lawsuits are filed in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana and the women living with this agitable condition are looking forward to favorable court proceedings. The Plaintiff facts sheets are made officially available, lawyers can start prepping up the Taxotere cases, Neural IT understands SOLs deadlines and offers the required skill backed with the latest technology.

Onglyza Plaintiffs Not So Happy...

In spite of a list of side effects linked to Onglyza, there is only some success or positive movement at the plaintiff's end. Last year, 14 of them had their claims dismissed by a federal judge in California who granted the defendant AstraZeneca's motion for summary judgment despite a mandate by the FDA to have information about pancreatitis added to the warnings and precautions regarding Onglyza.

The 2009 FDA approved type 2 diabetes medication Onglyza, belongs to a class of DPP-4 inhibitors that control the blood sugar by helping the pancreas to produce more insulin after meals, thereby the amount of glucose produced by the liver is reduced. It was linked to a higher risk of pancreatic cancer and heart failure which became severe allegations faced by the defendants Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca.

With our knowledge and expertise, we agree with the notion that there are good chances of an MDL formation as more cases are filed to join the existing lawsuits.

Invokana: Maintaining its Gait

Invokana lawsuits have shown further movement in the court proceedings with the approval coming forth for the Plaintiff Fact Sheets along with its protocols details by the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey. Invokana had recently made it to the news for updating the label regarding increased risk of leg and foot amputations as a new black box warning by the FDA.

Invokana had entered the market with a bang as the first SGLT2 inhibitor approved by the FDA to treat Type 2 diabetes. However, today more than 400 lawsuits are pending in the court, filed by individuals who suffered diabetic ketoacidosis, kidney damage, and other side effects due to its use.

Over the course of time, Neural IT has kept its clients happy by efficient, accurate, and timely delivery of Plaintiff Fact Sheet forms that speak of quality, with a full understanding that this step helps to streamline discovery stage by replacing formal interrogatories in large, complex litigations.