Weekly Mass Torts Bulletin 2021-Nov-08
Bexar County To Get $12M In Opioid Litigation
Bexar County, which sued more than 50 drug manufacturing and distributing companies in 2018, will receive $12 million from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to tackle the opioid crisis.
The settlement is part of a $290 million allotted to Texas to deal with the ongoing opioid crisis in the state. J&J will pay around $2.3 million directly to the county and would receive $1.8 million from the statewide settlement.
Texas' attorney general (AG) said that the settlement would give much-needed relief to the people affected due to opioids and illicit marketing strategies of the manufacturers.
The remaining companies which are facing lawsuits from Bexar County still have time to propose their settlement, as the trial has been rescheduled from October 2020 to May 2022.
The agreement also allots $8 million from the statewide settlement as the county falls under “health care region”. A total of $17.6 million is to be allocated to the entire region falling under this category.
Bexar County's commissioners will decide the use of the settlement amount, as they have earlier announced that the county will prioritise payout toward opioid and substance abuse treatment programs.
The county will also benefit from a $26 billion multi-state opioid settlement as Texas is involved in the agreement that has ordered McKesson, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to pay for the opioid epidemic.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided data explaining that from 1999 to 2019, half a million people in the United States died because of opioid overdose.
2nd Win For 3M In Combat Arms Earplugs Lawsuit
3M has been awarded a second win in a combat arms earplugs lawsuit where the military member accused the company of manufacturing a faulty product that resulted in hearing loss.
As per the court documents, the plaintiff was serving the military since 1989. In 2003, the plaintiff was serving in South Korea when she began using CAEv2s. She experienced ringing in her ears after using the product for five years, post which she tested the Army audiograms that showed a hearing loss for her.
The reports even stated that she had a separate congenital hearing condition. However, the plaintiffs' attorney argued that it affected a different frequency range as compared to the frequencies affected by the defective earplugs.
The Pensacola jury concluded that 3M manufactured CAEv2 earplugs were not responsible for the injury claims made by the first female service member of the United States. The lawsuit is part of 250,000-plaintiff multidistrict litigation. Five more trials of the earplugs with similar allegations are set to begin before the year-end.
The spokeswoman for 3M stated that the verdict confirms 3M's CAEv2 product was effective and safe to use, and it will help the company deal with upcoming trials efficiently. However, the plaintiff's attorneys claimed that the company was aware of the defects in its products and yet allowed the service members to use them, which resulted in hearing loss and tinnitus.
Earlier, the U.S. district judge has indicated to fasten up the pace of trials and discovery proceedings in the 3M earplugs hearing loss litigation considering the backlog of 250,000 claims.
All the claims allege the manufacturer of providing defective combat arms earplugs to the military veterans, which resulted in permanent hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear damage to the users.
As per the plaintiffs, the defective design of the earplugs would not fit the ear properly and make it fall off easily. The earplugs had a reversible design that was supposed to provide selective hearing from one end and complete sound blockage when used in a reverse manner.
Earlier, the judge ordered to move about 1,358 cases into an MDL. But considering the vast number of claims, the orders could be revised, and 10,000 to 20,000 cases would be required to be moved at a time.
The first 3M trial, including three veterans military veterans, ended in a $7.1 million verdict in April 2021. 3M obtained a defense verdict in the second trial and in June the third bellwether trial ended in a $1.7 million verdict.
U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida is overseeing all the 3M lawsuits in a centralized MDL for coordinated discovery and a common outcome.
Earlier, the U.S. District Judge agreed to consolidate three different claims of 3M Combat Arms earplug lawsuits into one trial, which will begin in January 2022 before a federal jury.
The current consolidated trial, set to begin in January 2022, is similar to the first bellwether trial of combat arms earplugs held in April 2021, where three military veterans were awarded $7.1 million. The company provided defective earplugs to the service members, which resulted in the court's ruling against it. The second trial was ruled in favor of 3M in May 2021, and the third trial resulted in a $1.7 million verdict against the manufacturer.
Each of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit claims 3M was aware of the defective design of the earplugs but still sold it to the U.S. government without fair guidelines about the usage of the products. The earplugs could not seal the ear canal effectively and fall out from the service members' ears.
These bellwether trials will prevent repetitive findings and discussions in the large number of 3M lawsuits that are about to go before the federal judge.
U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers has already scheduled two bellwether trials that will go before separate juries in September and October 2021 before the current trial, including the three veterans.
Currently, 3M faces more than 230,000 product liability lawsuits with similar allegations that the earplugs were defective and resulted in hearing loss, tinnitus, and other ear problems to the U.S. service members. All the 3M lawsuits are consolidated before U.S. District Judge.
Casey Rodgers as a part of an MDL in the Northern District of Florida.
Earlier, the U.S. District Judge presiding over 3M Combat Arms earplugs litigation has penalized two attorneys representing the manufacturer for disregarding jury orders on presenting evidence at the trial.
Last week, a jury awarded $1.7 million in damages to the U.S. Army veteran who suffered hearing damage due to the defective earplugs. According to the jury's final judgment, 3M is responsible for $1.05 million damages from the total settlement amount.
The verdict is the second major loss for 3M. Earlier in April, three veterans were awarded $7.1 million in damages against 3M. Although the manufacturer was able to defend the verdict in the second trial that commenced in May, the company is required to yet prove the safety of its product in future trials.
Judge Rodgers issued a sanction order considering the most recent 3M trial as the attorneys violated court orders during the closing arguments. The order briefed that two of the attorneys should pay $10,000 and $2000 as a penalty.
Judge Rodgers stated that one of the penalized attorneys presented the statistics as facts during closing arguments which is not acceptable during court ruling. She even asked the attorney to rectify the situation, but the attorney ignored it completely.
Later in a conference, Judge Rodgers said that it was the first time in 19 years that she had to punish the attorneys for disregarding her orders.
U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers is overlooking all the 3M lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida where the litigation is centralized for coordinated discoveries and non-repetitive response of juries to certain evidence.
Currently, there are more than 230,000 product liability lawsuits against the manufacturer claiming that 3M Combat Arms earplugs are defective, and resulted in tinnitus, hearing loss and other ear problems to the U.S. service members.
Calif. Judge Clears Drug Companies Off Opioid Liabilities
A California jury has cleared four major drug companies from liabilities in the opioids epidemic litigation that demanded the companies to pay tens of billions of dollars to compensate for the opioid crisis.
Allergan, Endo, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Teva are the companies involved in the litigation. All the companies faced similar allegations that they used tricky marketing strategies to increase sales of opioids.
The companies attorney said that their clients are not responsible for fueling the opioid crisis. He added that if the company would have been found liable for the epidemic, it would have had to pay for costly public health and drug treatment programs that were acceptable on the drugmakers' part.
According to the findings provided by the court, the plaintiffs failed to prove an actionable public nuisance against the defendants, and the marketing and promotion of the drugs were appropriate which were not intended to harm the users.
The current ruling is a significant victory for the drugmakers considering the ever-increasing number of opioid lawsuits against them.
As per the data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nationwide death rate due to opioid overdose is soaring, with nearly 100,000 deaths of Americans in 12 months.