The U.S. District Judge has outlined a preliminary plan for coordinated discovery, procedures, and bellwether trials of all federal Elmiron vision loss lawsuits which are expected to go before the jury in January 2023.
Judge Martinotti has established a “bellwether” process to settle potential Elmiron negotiations. The process will focus on preparing a small group of representative claims to go through a discovery process for early test trials in the MDL. The court outlined a preliminary plan on May 13 which will eliminate repetitive discovery, conserve resources and promote fair litigation.
The judge even explained that trial selection and bellwether process are yet to be completed and parties will prepare accordingly to work out a plan with the help of the agreement. The judge also highlighted that the parties must develop bellwether process timeline and comply with it till the motion starts.
It is estimated that several thousand lawsuits will be included in the proceedings in the coming months and years as many Elmiron injury lawyers are still investigating and filing additional vision loss claims.
Currently, the manufacturers of Elmiron face more than 200 product liability claims with similar allegations that the drug causes maculopathy or retinal damage among the users. The manufacturers failed to provide earlier warnings and the importance of monitoring for symptoms of vision changes.
All the Elmiron lawsuits are centralized before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in the District of New Jersey for the coordinated discovery of evidence and testimonies.
