What Happened In The MassTorts World Last Week? 2019-Jun-10

J&J has been hit with $300M in punitive damages over a talcum powder lawsuit, on Friday, following a recent verdict held in NY.

A 66-year old woman and her husband had filed a lawsuit against J&J for her pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lungs in 2017. On May 21, 2019, a New York jury granted $25 million in compensatory damages to the plaintiffs, claiming the company was responsible for her mesothelioma but did not finalize on the punitive damages against the company. The NY jury finalized $300 million in punitive damages on Friday, adding the total verdict to $325 million. According to a J&J spokesperson, the company will appeal against the verdict.

J&J is facing nearly 14,000 similar allegations against its talc-based products. Hon. Freda L. Wolfson, U.S.D.J./ Hon. Lois H. Goodman, U.S.M.J. overlooks J&J's talcum powder multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2738; In Re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation) in the District of New Jersey.

The valsartan class action lawsuit has alleged that the recalled generic versions of the blood pressure medication distributed in recent years should be considered as an unapproved drug due to the presence of carcinogenic impurities.

According to a complaint filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the plaintiff has alleged that the valsartan manufacturers illegally sold contaminated drugs and falsely advertised them as generic valsartan equivalents, cheating hundreds of thousands of consumers and putting their health at risk. The allegations were on behalf of all Florida residents who purchased recalled generic valsartan products manufactured and distributed by Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Solco Healthcare U.S., and Prinston Pharmaceutical, Inc., who are all defendants in the claim.

There are currently 10 class action lawsuits and one individual action pending in District Courts across the U.S. against Valsartan. Valsartan claims are consolidated under MDL No. 2875 (In re Valsartan Products Liability Litigation) in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, presided by Judge Robert B. Kugler, U.S.D.J and Hon. Joel Schneider, U.S.M.J.

According to a case management study submitted on May 29, plaintiffs attorneys have asked the U.S. District Judge to start preparing dozens of cases for individual trial dates against Roundup in California U.S. District Courts.

Around 15,000 product liability lawsuits have been filed nationwide against Bayer and its subsidiary Monsanto which includes cases brought by farmers, landscapers, groundskeepers and other consumers diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma following the use of Roundup. Additionally, at least 1,300 of the Roundup cases are pending in the federal court system.

Meanwhile, litigation involving Monsanto Roundup has gone global, following the class action lawsuit filed in Quebec, Canada.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria is presiding overall the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California. Kenneth Feinberg has been appointed to help mediate a deal in multidistrict litigation involving Monsanto's Roundup.

Last month, Monsanto was held liable for causing a 70-year-old man Non-Hodgkin lymphoma after getting exposed to Roundup for which the court ordered Monsanto and its parent company Bayer AG to pay $80 million. The defendants have now requested the court to reverse the verdict or grant a new trial.  

Monsanto claimed that the plaintiff failed to present any scientific proof on Roundup, causing his Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Additionally, Monsanto stated glyphosate, an ingredient of Roundup, is safe when used as per instructions. Monsanto has asked the judge to reduce the damage amount following its clear conviction and justifiable evidence.

The plaintiff’s lawsuit becomes the first case to trial out of 1300 similar lawsuits and becomes second of three blockbusters bay area verdicts against Monsanto in Roundup cases. The first trial in Monsanto ended in $289 million, and later the amount was cut down to $78 million.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria is presiding over all the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.

Micheal Ogalirolo, an Australian gardener, has sued Monsanto over alleged harm caused by its weed killer Roundup. This case is considered to be the first lawsuit filed against Monsanto in Australia.

Plaintiff Ogalirolo used glyphosate for nearly 20 years, first while working at Jim’s Mowing franchise and later in his own landscaping business. He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2011 and retired in 2015 due to his poor health. The plaintiff complaint stated that Roundup products were dangerous, causing chromosomal damage, nerve damage, infertility, cancer, kidney disease, and other illnesses. Though the plaintiff’s lymphoma is in remission, but the disease continues to cast a shadow over his life.

Bayer AG overtook Monsanto last June for $63 billion and is currently defending 14,000 Roundup cancer lawsuits. In a Roundup trial concluded last month a California jury awarded $2 billion to an elderly couple with NHL disease. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria is presiding overall the federal multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2741; In Re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation) in the Northern District of California.

In the latest complaint filed by a couple in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on May 29, Camber Pharmaceuticals, Hetero USA, Inc., and The Kroger Company have been alleged for selling defective and dangerous generic versions of the blood pressure drug valsartan.

The husband started using generic valsartan pills for treatment of his high blood pressure and heart failure conditions since 2013. He complained that he was diagnosed with lung and pancreatic cancer in September 2017 following the exposure to the pills that were recalled in recent months due to the presence of cancer-causing chemicals N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) or N-Nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA). The defendants further face allegations of manufacturing and design defects, failure to warn,  negligence, gross negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, violation of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act, and loss of consortium. The plaintiffs have claimed compensatory and punitive damages.

There are currently 10 class action lawsuits and one individual action pending in District Courts across the U.S. against Valsartan. Valsartan claims are consolidated under MDL No. 2875 (In re Valsartan Products Liability Litigation) in the United States District Court, District of New Jersey, presided by Judge Robert B. Kugler, U.S.D.J and Hon. Joel Schneider, U.S.M.J.

According to an order issued by Judge Rodgers on June 4, a “Science Day” is being rescheduled for Monday, August 26, where the non-adversarial presentation would be designed to educate the court about the issues that will arise in the 3M Earplugs litigation over hearing loss.

The parties are ordered to confer and meet about proposed parameters for the presentations and to include the scope of topics, timing, level of details involved and submit a joint agenda by August 5. The presentations will focus on science between hearing loss and earplug designs. These scientific presentations are scheduled to educate the court about issues and concepts that can come up during the proceedings. These presentations play no part in the official litigation and are not subject to cross-examination.

More than 640 injury lawsuits related to the defective earplugs are centralized as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL No. 2885; In Re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation) presided by Judge M. Casey Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida against Minnesota-based 3M.

Insys Therapeutics Inc. has agreed to pay $225M to end criminal and civil investigations imposed by the federal government over allegations that the company bribed doctors to prescribe a powerful and addictive opioid spray.

The company had announced in August 2018, that it would pay at least $150 million and then possibly another $75 million. Following the recent agreement, the company will enter into a delayed prosecution and has pleaded guilty to five counts of mail fraud, paying a $2 million fine and $28 million forfeiture. The company will also pay $195 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. The Boston jury convicted five former Insys executives including founder John Kapoor of a racketeering conspiracy. In all, eight company executives have been convicted or plead guilty in Massachusetts federal court. Insys has entered into a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that would allow the company to continue participating in federal healthcare programs.

In a similar trial held in March and May this year, OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP made a settlement of $270 million, and Teva Pharmaceuticals made a settlement of $85 million, respectively. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is presiding over more than 1,900 suits filed by U.S. cities and counties of which more than 1,600 cases are filed largely by local governments, Native American tribes, and hospitals. The first trial in the MDL No. 2804 is set to start in October 2019.

In the recently centralized Zostavax litigation, MDL No. 2848., in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, presiding Judge Harvey Bartle III established a bellwether process following which Merck & Co. and a Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC) selected a group of 16 Zostavax vaccine cases, which will go through case-specific discovery and will be prepared for the first trial dates.

There are around 600 product liability lawsuits pending against Merck, each alleging its failure to warn consumers and the medical community about the potential side effects of Zostavax. The plaintiffs have claimed that they have suffered more severe and persistent shingles outbreaks, along with auto-immune disorders like meningitis, paralysis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), transverse myelitis, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIPD) and other painful conditions. The discovery pool will help the parties gauge how juries might respond to evidence that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

The cases will be grouped into two categories and prepared for five proposed trial dates that will take place between fall 2020 and summer 2021.