U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim announced in a pretrial order issued on August 17 that 18 more cases would be included in the second stage of bellwether trials for nerve damages linked to Avelox and Cipro, each party is required to select eight from their side.
The cases selected by the plaintiffs and defendants must comprise of seven Avelox cases and two Cipro cases. A further expert discovery process would be done for the eight cases shortlisted by the court from those 18 cases. The selections only include cases filed after April 21, 2016; it does not include the claims where the plaintiffs took more than one of the medications in trouble. The first Avelox bellwether trial is slated for November 2018, the second Avelox case for January 2019, and two more in June and August 2019. The Cipro trials have been scheduled for March 2019. The trial dates would be finalized by late 2019 or early 2020 unless the drugmakers decide for a global settlement of all related lawsuits.
Fluoroquinolone lawsuits filed blame the makers for hiding the risk of long-lasting peripheral neuropathy associated with the drug. The defendant list includes Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson, and others for false marketing defective and dangerous drugs.
