As per an order issued on August 24 in Middlesex County Superior court, an initial Case Management Conference for Taxotere lawsuits has been scheduled for October 4, 2018, at 10 a.m. in New Jersey.
A week prior to the conference, the parties are required to submit a brief statement with certain information to help the court identify any problems of recusal or disqualification. The parties must surrender documents related to the status of discovery, status settlement negotiations, settlement demands, mediation and prospects for settlement, along with the list of all related actions pending in the state and federal courts and their current status data. The NJ Superior County transferred 353 Taxotere hair loss cases to Middlesex County on August 15. Any lawsuit filed in New Jersey with similar claims would be included in the multicounty litigation.
Taxotere, manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, is widely used as a chemotherapy drug. Plaintiffs across the nation allege the makers were aware of the permanent alopecia effect of the drug and failed to provide an adequate warning to doctors and patients. The multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2740; In Re: Taxotere (Docetaxel) Products Liability Litigation) includes about 9,000 federal cases that have been centralized in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana for pretrial proceedings.
