On March 23, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May, presiding over the federal ParaGard IUD multidistrict litigation (MDL), approved new procedures meant to make things efficient for plaintiffs who file new lawsuits.
According to the case management order issued, a plaintiff may serve an individual complaint against the defendants by sending a copy of the file-stamped complaint and a request for waiver of service of summons separately via email.
The order also stated that the waiver is only for the service of summons and its execution would not let defendants to be waived off from any claims, affirmative defense, or other defenses of any nature, including jurisdiction and venue.
The defendants named in the litigation are Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Teva Women’s Health, Inc., Teva Women’s Health, LLC, Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D, Inc., The Cooper Companies, Inc., and CooperSurgical, Inc.
In February, Judge May had also appointed a group of 25 plaintiffs’ lawyers for various leadership roles. The group included one plaintiffs’ liaison counsel, two plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel, five to serve on a Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, and seventeen to serve on a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.
A bellwether process is also expected soon, which would include a small group of representative claims that will be prepared for early trials to determine how juries respond to certain evidence and testimony during the process.
The result of these early trials will not hold an obligation on other cases and will be closely monitored by the parties as it would influence settlements for the plaintiffs, helping avoid the need for individual trials nationwide in the coming years.
Currently, around 136 complaints are pending in the docket and the number of lawsuits seems to be growing, each claiming that the birth control device has a risk of breaking upon removal, causing complications and injuries, including surgeries to remove the broken piece of the device, infertility, and pain.
