U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler named former Pennsylvania federal Judge Lawrence F. Stengel, and former Delaware Judge Gregory M. Sleet as special masters in charge of overseeing settlement conferences in the multidistrict litigation regarding the alleged...
In a pre-trial order issued on December 30, 2020 the Florida federal judge overseeing the 3M earplugs litigation consolidated three bellwether cases and set trial dates for the five cases that were part of Bellwether Group A and the subject of a December 7, 2020...
There have been a number of groups affected by the pending MDL involving Zantac, the popular heartburn medication. It is alleged that the defendants knew that Zantac was hazardous to consumers for years, but it only became publicly known in September, 2019 when the...
On Tuesday, December 15th the JPML sent all Elmiron cases to be tried in New Jersey by U.S. Judge Brian R. Martinotti. The judge had been handling Elmiron lawsuits and had already set up processes resembling those typically followed in MDLs. Because those efforts were...
When the courts closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19, few would have foreseen the impact on so many aspects of the mass tort landscape. Judges, attorneys, defendants, and plaintiffs alike are all feeling the ripple effects of a system that was paralyzed for nearly...
At the last JPML hearing held on Thursday, December 4th, the panel heard from counsel for Johnson & Johnson and lawyers for plaintiffs. Both sides presented arguments for creating an MDL for all Elmiron cases in New Jersey federal court. Those proposing NJ as...
In late September, the Sixth Circuit rejected a federal judge’s certification of an artificial class, or “negotiating class” aimed at promoting a global settlement between opioid manufacturers and various cities and counties across the United States. According to U.S....
The FDA has notified Novartis that it has rejected their request to add a birth defect warning to Zofran’s label. Plaintiffs claim that Zofran, a drug used to treat nausea for cancer and surgery patients, was also promoted by GlaxoSmithKline - the original developer...
On November 3, Missouri’s Supreme Court refused to review a jury verdict for $2.1B that was delivered to 22 women who claimed that J&J’s talc-containing baby powder caused their ovarian cancer. That verdict was the result of a June 2018 trial where the jury found...
In an order issued on Friday, October 23, Judge Orrick denied plaintiffs’ claims on racketeering charges against Juul and Altria for their lack of specific proof to sustain those charges. Plaintiffs, however, have the option of modifying their filings to make them a...
