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Mealey's Drugs & Devices

June 03, 2024
Hernia Mesh MDL Judge Grants Dismissal Of 14 Cases After Agreements Reached

ATLANTA — Another 14 cases in the Ethicon Physiomesh hernia patch multidistrict litigation have been dismissed with prejudice after the parties told the court in a joint motion that they have settled all claims in those cases.
June 03, 2024
4th Bellwether Plaintiff Selected For Exactech MDL

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The federal judge overseeing the Exactech orthopedic device multidistrict litigation announced the name of the fourth bellwether plaintiff after the parties conferred to select a consensus pick.
May 31, 2024
Novo Nordisk Sues Pharmacy For Selling Compounded Drugs Containing Semaglutide

HOUSTON — Novo Nordisk Inc. on May 30 filed a complaint in a Texas federal court, asking that a pharmacy be enjoined from “selling misbranded injectable, non-FDA approved drugs that claim to contain semaglutide.”
May 31, 2024
Magellan To Plead Guilty, Agrees To $42M Settlement For Faulty Lead Tests

BOSTON — A Massachusetts medical device company has agreed to pay $42 million and plead guilty in a deferred prosecution agreement to resolve claims that it misled consumers and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by concealing a malfunction in the company’s lead tests that produced inaccurately low test results.
May 29, 2024
Lilly Appeal Of Attorney Fees Consolidated With Others In False Claims Act Judgment

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 28 ordered that an appeal filed by Eli Lilly & Co. over a district court’s award of attorney fees and expenses be consolidated with other appeals stemming from a $193 million judgment after the company was found to have underpaid Medicare drug rebates owed to the United States.
May 28, 2024
5th Circuit Holds Generic Drugmakers Not Required To Change Label

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 24 found that three generic drug manufacturers did not have newly acquired risk information that could have been added to the label of a chemotherapy drug that allegedly caused permanent chemotherapy-induced alopecia (PCIA) in cancer patients with the possible exception of one abstract presented at a December 2013 conference and remanded the case to the trial court to consider the incidence rate of minimal cases in that study.
May 28, 2024
Illinois Jury Returns Defense Win In 1st Zantac Trial

CHICAGO — An Illinois state jury rejected a woman’s claim that the heartburn drug Zantac caused her to develop colon cancer, signifying a win for the drug manufacturers in the first case to go to verdict.
May 24, 2024
Hawaii Wins $916M Judgment Against Bristol-Myers, Sanofi For Plavix Warnings

HONOLULU — A Hawaii state court judge ordered Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) and Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC to pay more than $916 million for violating the state’s unfair trade practices law by failing to warn patients of East Asia and Pacific Island ancestry that their genetic variants rendered the antiplatelet drug Plavix ineffective for them in a case that was remanded from the state Supreme Court.
May 24, 2024
Acella Pharmaceutical Agrees To $41M Settlement For Faulty Thyroid Hormone Drugs

GAINESVILLE, Ga. — A Georgia federal judge granted final approval to a $41 million settlement to end claims that a pharmaceutical company made and sold thyroid hormone pills that were subpotent and awarded $5 million in attorney fees.
May 24, 2024
Man Asks Court To Order FDA To Respond To Petition To Update SSRI Warning Labels

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A professor researching the risk of sexual dysfunction after stopping selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) drugs filed a complaint asking a District of Columbia federal court to declare that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration failed to respond to a citizen petition requesting that the warning labels be changed and to order the FDA to issue a decision within 30 days.
May 23, 2024
Pa. Federal Judge Overseeing Diabetes And Diet Drug MDL Dies; Schedule Altered

PHILADELPHIA — A case management order has been vacated and a scheduled Science Day canceled for the multidistrict litigation involving diabetes and diet drugs that consumers allege caused gastrointestinal and other injuries, following the recent death of U.S. Judge Gene E.K. Pratter of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who was appointed to oversee the MDL in February.
May 21, 2024
GenBioPro: W.Va.’s Law Banning Abortion Does Not Protect Citizens’ Health

RICHMOND, Va. — GenBioPro Inc., the maker of generic mifepristone, one of two drugs used to induce early termination of pregnancy, on May 20 told the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the West Virginia Unborn Child Protection Act (UCPA), which bans abortion in almost all cases, is not protected by the state’s power to guard its citizens’ health.
May 20, 2024
Texas High Court: Judicial Estoppel Bars Fen-Phen Lawyer’s Arguments In Fee Case

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on May 17 found that a plaintiff law firm in a long-running fen-phen fee dispute is “judicially estopped from establishing an essential component” in its motion for summary judgment, affirming a ruling by the state appeals court that reversed the summary judgment order of the trial court.
May 17, 2024
McKinsey MDL Judge Allows Claims Over Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome To Move Forward

SAN FRANCISCO — The California federal judge presiding over the McKinsey & Co. opioid promotion multidistrict litigation on May 16 partially granted and partially denied McKinsey’s motion to dismiss an amended complaint filed on behalf of minors born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).
May 16, 2024
Mass Tort Cases For Drugs, Medical Devices

New developments in the following mass tort drug and device cases are marked in boldface type.
May 16, 2024
Paragard IUD MDL Judge Makes Changes To Plaintiff Counsel Leadership

ATLANTA — The Georgia federal judge overseeing the Paragard IUD (intrauterine device) multidistrict litigation revised the plaintiffs’ leadership structure in a recent order, removing eight members from the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), among other changes.
May 16, 2024
Judge Affirms Dismissal Of Warranty Claims In Post-Surgical Complication Suit

STATESVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge affirmed a magistrate judge’s finding that processed human tissue used during a woman’s spinal surgery is a service under a state statute and that certain defendants cannot be held liable for warranty claims.
May 16, 2024
OptumRx Asks 6th Circuit To Order Disqualification Of Motley Rice In Opioid MDL

CINCINNATI — OptumRx Inc. filed a petition for a writ of mandamus ordering the Ohio federal judge overseeing the opioid multidistrict litigation to disqualify Motley Rice and its attorneys from representing plaintiffs who sued the pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) in the opioid MDL.
May 15, 2024
Judge Overrules Abbott’s Objections To Discovery Order In FCA Suit Over Kickbacks

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge on May 14 overruled Abbott Laboratories’ objections and affirmed a magistrate judge’s discovery order that denied Abbott’s motion to compel production of certain documents in a suit alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) and state false claims laws regarding Abbott’s alleged kickback scheme to induce hospitals and physicians to use an Abbott cardiac medical device, finding that Abbott is not entitled to discover certain documents, which are considered privileged work product.
May 15, 2024
Parties Submit Joint Bellwether Deadline Schedule In Tepezza Hearing Loss MDL

CHICAGO — The parties in the Tepezza hearing loss multidistrict litigation filed a joint proposed schedule setting deadlines for discovery, expert disclosures and briefing ahead of the first bellwether trial, which is slated to begin March 9, 2026.
May 14, 2024
Philips Says SoClean Should Chip In For Settlement Of CPAP Injury Claims

PITTSBURGH — SoClean Inc., a manufacturer of equipment that uses ozone to clean and disinfect continuous positive air pressure (CPAP) sleep apnea devices and respirators, should contribute to the $1.1 billion settlement reached between Philips Respironics and the plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation involving personal injuries caused by deteriorating sound insulation in Philips’ CPAP devices, Philips argues in a third-party complaint filed in the MDL.
May 13, 2024
Woman Will Appeal Refusal Of Taxotere MDL Judge To Reconsider Her Dismissed Case

NEW ORLEANS — A woman whose case in the Taxotere hair loss multidistrict litigation was dismissed for failure to comply with a court-ordered deadline to properly serve her complaint filed notice that she will appeal to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the judge’s denial of her motion to reconsider the ruling that ended her case.
May 13, 2024
NECC Pharmacy Founder Barry Cadden Sentenced In State Involuntary Manslaughter Case

LANSING, Mich. — Former New England Compounding Center (NECC) founder Barry J. Cadden on May 10 was sentenced in a Michigan state court to 10 to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest in March to 11 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak traced to a contaminated drug compounded by his company, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
May 13, 2024
4 Lawyers Appointed To Co-Lead Plaintiffs In Diabetes And Diet Drug MDL

PHILADELPHIA — The federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation involving diabetes and diet drugs that consumers allege caused gastrointestinal and other injuries named four lawyers to serve as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs and designated counsel to serve on the MDL’s executive and steering committees.
May 10, 2024
Pharmacy Distributor Appeals No Coverage Ruling In Suit Prompted By Opioid Epidemic

VALDOSTA, Ga. — A pharmacy distributor insured indicated to a Georgia federal court that it is asking the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review the court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of its commercial general liability and umbrella insurers in a coverage dispute arising from the opioid epidemic.