U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers, overseeing the Abilify gambling multidistrict litigation No. 2734, granted plaintiffs' omnibus motion request to remand 21 cases to California state courts from where they originated. Bristol Myers Squibb Company, McKesson Corporation, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. are the four defendants named in this gambling lawsuit. The decision will now allow the litigation to move forward in the state court system while the bellwether trial process continues in the federal courts.
The plaintiffs claim the defendants failed to adequately warn the users of the development of sudden and uncontrollable urges to gamble or develop other compulsive behaviors in response to the use of Abilify or changing its doses. The antipsychotic drug is prescribed to treat certain mental/mood disorders (such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Tourette's disorder, and irritability associated with autistic disorder).
With no signs of global settlement in spite of three cases settling just before trial in April 2018, Judge Rodgers fast-tracked 6 cases for early discovery in September. The bellwether trials are scheduled to begin in Spring 2019. Abilify cases are centralized in the Northern District of Florida for coordinated discovery and pre-trial proceedings with over 2,000 lawsuits pending in the docket. More cases are expected to be remanded to their home state courts if there is no settlement initiation.
