What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2020-Feb-10
Bayer's New Tactic In Roundup Settlement Talks
Bayer’s Attorney general is trying to settle all the U.S. lawsuits over their Roundup weedkiller causing cancer, and while doing so, the company is looking forward to making a proposal that will prevent the plaintiffs' lawyers from advertising for new clients.
Bayer is looking forward to resolving the litigation as it has hit its share price since it acquired Roundup as part of its $63 billion takeover of Monsanto in 2018. The company has even denied the claims that Roundup or its active ingredient glyphosate causes cancer by mentioning that the decade-old studies have certified the product of being safe.
As per the sources, Bayer is eager to consider the agreement of banning advertisements against them as it will control the company’s future legal exposure.
According to sources, Bayer is considering stopping retail sales of glyphosate while continuing to sell it to the farmers, as more number of plaintiff are private users. The company has even denied putting a cancer warning on their product as the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency has certified it to be safe.
Last year in October, Bayer blamed law firms that their TV ad campaigns resulted in doubling U.S. plaintiff seeking damages to 42,700 within just three months.
There are more than 40,000 lawsuits filed against Roundup across the United States. All these lawsuits are consolidated before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria under federal multi-district litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.
Opioid Defendants Head Back To Sixth Circuit
Several opioids defendants, following a quiet appellate proceeding, returned to the Sixth Circuit filing a mandamus petition challenging the U.S. District Judge Dan Polster's order to produce “transactional dispensing data for the entire United States” from 2006 forward.
The petition treats MDL proceedings as exempt from the normal application of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The ACLU and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce both filed amicus briefs in support of the petition. The Chamber (joined by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores), emphasized the applicability of Federal Rule 26(b)(1)’s proportionality rule, which, according to them, commands the trial judge to account for the costs and risks of producing nationwide prescription data. Meanwhile, the ACLU highlighted the serious privacy concerns of patients' medical conditions.
Also, according to the minutes of a conference placed on Friday's docket, Judge Polster pushed back the start of Cuyahoga and Summit counties' opioid trial from Oct. 13 to Nov. 9.
Cornflakes Manufacturer To Reduce Glyphosate Use By 2025
The manufacturer of Cornflakes and other popular cereal brands, Kellogg's, has committed to reducing the use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest desiccant in its major wheat and oat supply chains by 2025.
The manufacturer stated that they are working with their suppliers to completely phase-out glyphosate, the active ingredient of Roundup.
According to the results released by the Environmental Working Group, glyphosate was found in 45 of 47 kinds of cereal made from conventionally grown oats. The results revealed that the weed killer was present at levels the group considers unsafe for children. Following the testing conducted in 2018 and 2019, more than 310,000 consumers have signed a petition calling on Kellogg’s, General Mills, and Quaker to remove glyphosate from their products.
More than 40,000 lawsuits are filed against Roundup. The 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.
Even Bayer published that it is facing 42,700 Roundup claims in its third-quarter report, but as per the reports, there are around 75,000 to 85,000 claims against the company seeking a settlement. Earlier, in December 2019, Bayer lost three trials in California, which resulted in a $191 million penalty for the company. It has requested to put further trials on hold, considering the losses.
Montana State Attorney Sues Opioid Distributors
On Monday, 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.
15 Arkansas Hospitals Sue Opioid Makers
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.
$750M Verdict Against J&J In NJ Over Baby Powder
On Thursday, a New Jersey jury ordered Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay punitive damages of $750 million to four plaintiffs, who alleged their talc-based baby powder caused cancer.
The verdict came after the first-ever testification of J&J's Chief Executive Alex Gorsky in the trial alleging the baby powder of causing cancer. J&J was held liable for the plaintiffs' cancer by a separate jury awarding them $37.2 million in compensation last September.
J&J stated that the judge is looking forward to reducing the damages to approximately $185 million. Plaintiffs lawyer Chris Placitella argued that punitive damages have to be five times the liability damages.
J&J said that they would appeal for both phases of the trial, claiming “numerous legal errors that subjected the jury to irrelevant information and prevented them from hearing meaningful evidence.”
J&J faces nearly 14,000 lawsuits against its products, Talcum Powder and Shower-to-Shower. All the lawsuits are centralised under multidistrict litigation MDL No. 2738; In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation. Another set of lawsuits is consolidated before the district court judge of California under Judicial Council Coordinated Proceeding No. 4877.