Last week, Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. filed a response over the centralization of Elmiron lawsuits, indicating that the company is not against the request and agrees to the formation of multidistrict litigation (MDL), which will be presided by U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti in the District of New Jersey.
The consolidation request was filed last month by a group of plaintiffs who claim that the bladder medication results in permanent vision problems. The group of plaintiffs asked the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) to centralize the cases before Judge Martinotti in New Jersey for coordinated pretrial proceedings and to avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different courts, avoid duplicative discovery, and serve the convenience of common witnesses, parties, and the judicial system.
Janssen, in the filing, stated that it did not oppose pretrial centralization as all the cases will likely involve common discovery and other pretrial matters, which would benefit from coordinated pretrial proceedings. The manufacturer further noted that it is currently facing 93 cases pending in 11 different federal courts, and 30 more cases have been filed since the plaintiffs first filed their motion to transfer.
A hearing session is scheduled for December 3, 2020, in San Antonio, Texas, to hear the oral arguments from various parties involved in the lawsuits.
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the label for Elmiron in the U.S., indicating the risk of eye disease associated with the drug. The new warning label was the result of multiple research studies and peer-reviewed publications, an FDA citizen petition, and a growing number of lawsuits.
