Mealey's Drugs & Devices
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April 18, 2022
Arguments For, Against Covidien Hernia MDL Set For May 26 JPMDL Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on April 14 said it will hear arguments on May 26 on Covidien LP’s second motion for the creation of an MDL for 73 federal lawsuits alleging injures from the company’s hernia mesh.
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April 18, 2022
Jury Awards $255,000 On 2 Of 7 Claims In 2nd Davol/C.R. Bard MDL Bellwether Trial
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio federal court jury on April 15 awarded $255,000 for plaintiffs’ negligent design and loss of consortium claims in the second Davol/C.R. Bard hernia mesh multidistrict litigation bellwether trial but returned defense verdicts to C.R. Bard Inc. and subsidiary Davol Inc. on five other claims.
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April 18, 2022
U.S. High Court Denies Pro Se Petition To Revisit Preemption Of State Law Claims
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 18 denied a pro se petition for a writ of certiorari by five breakaway plaintiffs who wanted the high court to rule that product liability claims involving the filing of false or inaccurate post-sale adverse events by a silicone breast implant manufacturer are not preempted by the court’s medical device preemption rulings in Buckman Co. v. Plaintiffs’ Legal Committee and Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc.
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April 15, 2022
5th Circuit: Plaintiff Lacks Evidence Of Defect In Knee Prosthesis, Bone Cement
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 14 affirmed summary judgment to the defendants in a DePuy knee defect case, saying the plaintiffs failed to provide competent evidence of a defect and are not entitled to an inference that revision surgery proves there was a defect.
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April 15, 2022
Cook IVC MDL Judge Finds Plaintiff’s Claims Time-Barred, Grants Judgment To Cook
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis federal judge on April 12 dismissed as time-barred a woman’s personal injury claims for an incident in which part of a Cook Medical Inc. inferior vena cava (IVC) filter broke off and became lodged in her vertebra.
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April 15, 2022
Judge Denies Interlocutory Appeal In Lilly False Claims Suit, Resets Trial To July
CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on March 29 denied Eli Lilly & Co.’s motion for a certificate of appealability of the court’s denial of summary judgment in a whistleblower lawsuit in which a relator alleges that the drugmaker knowingly submitted false statements and certifications to the United States and several states with false claims laws for programs about drug rebates owed to the governments.
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April 15, 2022
Pfizer Recalls Blood Pressure Drug Accuretic Due To Potential Carcinogen
NEW YORK — Pfizer Inc. on March 21 voluntarily recalled certain lots of its blood pressure drug Accuretic (quinapril) and two authorized generic versions due to the presence of potentially cancer-causing nitrosamine, N-nitroso-quinapril, above the acceptable daily intake level, according to a company press release.
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April 14, 2022
Judge: Opioid Suits Have No Potential To Assert Accident Produced Alleged Injury
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on April 5 granted insurers’ cross-motions for partial summary judgment as to their duty to defend their insured that sold and distributed prescription drugs, finding that underlying lawsuits prompted by the opioid epidemic fail to allege an “accident” under California law.
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April 13, 2022
Panel Strikes $42M From Nearly $344M Verdict Against J&J For Pelvic Mesh Marketing
SAN DIEGO — A California appellate panel on April 11 struck $42 million in civil penalties from a verdict against Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and subsidiary Ethicon Inc. imposed by a trial court for oral communications to doctors that were unsubstantiated by evidence but affirmed the remaining $302 million in penalties for other deceptive marketing of pelvic mesh products in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and false advertising law (FAL).
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April 07, 2022
6th Circuit Denies Pharmacies’ Mandamus Petition To Vacate Opioid Nuisance Verdict
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 5 denied a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by two pharmacy chains seeking to reverse an opioid public nuisance verdict, to get a new trial or to get an interlocutory appeal.
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April 07, 2022
Panel: Too Few Atrium Hernia Mesh Cases To Warrant An MDL
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on April 5 denied a motion by two plaintiffs to centralize 10 federal Atrium hernia mesh cases, saying there are too few and that informal coordination is an adequate alternative to an MDL.
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April 06, 2022
California High Court Asked If Stronger Warning Must Change Doctor Or Patient’s Mind
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 1 asked the California Supreme Court to decide if California law requires plaintiffs in a medical device case to show that a stronger warning would have altered a physician’s decision to prescribe the device or if the plaintiff must show that a stronger warning would have made the plaintiffs decline the device.
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April 05, 2022
Diabetes Drug Metformin Associated With Major Birth Defects, Study Says
PHILADELPHIA — A Danish nationwide cohort study found that the use of the diabetes drug metformin is associated with major birth defects, particularly genital birth defects in male babies, when fathers took the drug before conception, according to the March 29 Annals of Internal Medicine.
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April 05, 2022
Mass Tort Cases For Drugs, Medical Devices
New developments in the following mass tort drug and device cases are marked in boldface type.
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April 05, 2022
Judge In Shingles Vaccine MDL Enters Lone Pine Order To ‘Weed Out’ Weak Claims
PHILADELPHIA — Saying it’s time to “weed out” meritorious from nonmeritorious claims that the Zostavax vaccine caused shingles infections in adults, a Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing a multidistrict litigation on March 30 entered a Lone Pine order requiring plaintiffs who claim to have developed shingles to produce laboratory reports showing that their infection was a “vaccine-strain” varicella virus.
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April 05, 2022
Insys Defendant Sunrise Lee Gets $1.34M Forfeiture, $5M Restitution From Judge
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge on April 4 ordered opioid defendant Sunrise Lee to forfeit $1.34 million and to be jointly and severally liable with her four co-defendants for restitution of $5 million in the Insys Therapeutics Inc. criminal case.
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April 05, 2022
5th Circuit Affirms Preemption Ruling In Gastric Balloon Case
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 1 affirmed summary judgment for a device manufacturer in a gastric balloon device case, finding that the plaintiff’s state law claims are preempted by federal regulation and case law.
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April 05, 2022
Consumer Claims Out In Metformin Class Action; Third- Party Payer’s Partly Survive
NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on March 30 said four consumers lack standing to bring a variety of class claims against 10 manufacturers of the diabetes drug metformin due to alleged contamination by the potential carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) but dismissed some claims brought by a third-party payer while allowing other claims to remain.
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April 05, 2022
Florida Judge Denies Hospitals An Emergency Stay Of Endo Opioid Settlement
DADE CITY, Fla. — A Florida state court judge on March 30 denied an “emergency motion” by two hospitals to intervene in and stay Florida’s $65 million opioid settlement with Endo Health Solutions Inc., saying the hospitals can instead serve a nonemergency motion on the other parties and seek a hearing.
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April 04, 2022
Advocacy Groups Fail To Get United States To Take Down Vaccine-Autism Statement
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on March 31 dismissed a lawsuit by two nonprofits that sought to force the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to remove from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website a section titled “Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism,” saying the plaintiffs did not show that the section harmed them or persons they claim to represent.