On June 30, several major pharmacy chains, including CVS Health Corp., Walmart Inc., Rite-Aid Corp. and Walgreen Co. asked the Sixth Circuit to disqualify the judge overseeing the sprawling opioid litigation, Ohio U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster, accusing him of...
Litigation Update: Juul MDL Developments
On June 29, 2020, the defendants Juul Labs, Inc. and Altria Group, Inc. filed motions to dismiss the class action complaint filed in the federal multi-district litigation against three non-management director defendants, arguing the plaintiffs failed to prove that the...
Litigation Update: Adverse Findings for Pharma Giant Johnson & Johnson in Two Talc Cases
On June 23, in a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District reduced the damages awarded by the jury in a 2018 trial that linked Johnson & Johnson talc products to cancer, by more than half from $4.7 billion to...
Litigation Update: Bayer Reaches Settlement in Roundup Cases
On Wednesday, Bayer announced that it had reached an agreement to settle most of the 125,000 claims involving its Roundup herbicide which has been linked to cancer. The settlement is estimated to be at least $10.1 billion and will resolve most of the current Roundup...
Litigation Update: Missouri State Court Cuts Johnson & Johnson Talc Damages Award in Half but Upholds Verdict
On June 23, in a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District reduced the damages awarded by the jury in a 2018 trial that linked Johnson & Johnson talc products to cancer, by more than half from $4.7 billion to...
Litigation Update: Claims Notices Filed Over COVID-19 Infections in NJ Veterans’ Homes
As the COVID-19 outbreaks impacted nursing homes and long term care facilities across the country, state-run veterans’ homes were among the hardest hit. In New Jersey, two locations in particular stand out - Menlo Park and Paramus. As of June 23, there were 378...
2020 Mid Year Update: Mass Tort and Class Action Litigation Outlook
While many courtrooms across the country were closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are several mass torts that continued making significant progress despite the legal hiatus. Two of these were cited in our 2020 forecast: JUUL The JUUL MDL (Northern...
Litigation Update: NJ Supreme Court Decision Rules on Duty to Warn for Replacement Parts
In a 5-2 split decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled on June 3, that manufacturers and distributors can be held liable for failing to warn of the risks of asbestos-containing replacement components even if they did not build or sell them. In the 43-page...
Litigation Update: Talc Lawsuits Developments for Chanel, L’Oreal and Imerys
In the wake of lawsuits filed against Chanel and other manufacturers and sellers, linking cancer to their talc products, the company, along with cosmetic giants Revlon and L’Oreal are considering alternatives to talc in some of their products. Chanel has removed talc...
Litigation Update: Bayer Appeals Continue
On June 2, a California court heard oral argument in the appeal filed by Monsanto involving the August, 2018 multi-million dollar verdict in a case brought against them and its parent company, Bayer AG. The case was filed by Dewayne Johnson, a groundskeeper suffering...