Mealey's Drugs & Devices
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February 19, 2020
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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February 19, 2020
Taxotere MDL Judge Denies New Trial In 1st Bellwether Case Based On Defense Expert
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge overseeing the Taxotere hair loss multidistrict litigation on Feb. 14 denied a motion for a new trial in the first bellwether trial because of how a defense expert used a defendant’s analysis (In Re: Taxotere [Docetaxel] Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2740, No. 16-2740, E.D. La., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26509).
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February 19, 2020
Generic Drug Executive Pleads Guilty To Restraint Of Trade
PHILADELPHIA — A senior executive for a New Jersey generic drug manufacturer on Feb. 14 pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to restrain trade for allegedly trying to rig the generic drug market (United States v. Hector Armando Kellum, No. 20-cr-65, E.D. Pa.).
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February 19, 2020
New Jersey High Court Asked To Centralize Biocell Breast Implant Cancer Cases
TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court on Feb. 13 published a notice that it has received an application to create a multicounty litigation (MCL) for state court lawsuits alleging injuries from Allergan Biocell Textured Breast Implants.
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February 19, 2020
New Jersey Prolene Hernia Mesh Cases Sent To Multicounty Litigation In Atlantic City
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court on Jan. 15 created a multicounty litigation (MCL) for state court cases involving alleged injuries from Prolene hernia mesh and assigned it to Judge John C. Porto of the Atlantic County Superior Court (In Re: Prolene Hernia System Mesh Litigation, MCL Case No. 633, N.J. Super., Atlantic Co.).
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February 19, 2020
New Jersey Supreme Court Denies Creation Of Tritanium Hip Multicounty Litigation
TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court on Jan. 31 denied an application to create a multicounty litigation for state court cases alleging injuries as a result of the Stryker Tritanium Acetabular Shell due to the limited number of cases.
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February 19, 2020
MDL Panel Won’t Vacate Remand Of Cherokee, City Opioid Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on Feb. 5 denied a motion by 30 opioid defendants to vacate the panel’s remand of two opioid cases brought by the Cherokee Nation and San Francisco (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2804, JPMDL).
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February 18, 2020
7 Insys Execs Ordered To Pay $56.6M In Restitution For Subsys Opioid Scheme
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge on Feb. 14 ordered seven former high-ranking employees of opioid maker Insys Therapeutics Inc. to pay at least $56.68 million in restitution to Medicare, six health insurers and five individual victims of the defendants’ scheme to get insurers to pay for prescriptions of Subsys spray fentanyl for use by non-cancer patients (United States v. Michael L. Babich, et al., No. 16-cr-10343, D. Mass., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25952).
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February 14, 2020
6th Circuit Stays Some Opioid MDL Discovery, Will Hear Mandamus Arguments
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 12 stayed the production of some opioid prescribing data by pharmacy chain defendants in the opioid multidistrict litigation and invited the opioid MDL court to respond to the pharmacies’ motion for a writ of mandamus against the production of dispensing information for an October trial (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation [In Re: CVS Pharmacy, Inc., et al., No. 20-3075, 6th Cir.).
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February 14, 2020
FDA: Withdraw Belviq Weight-Loss Drug Due To Increased Cancer In Study Subjects
SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 13 said it has asked Eisai Co. Ltd. to voluntarily withdraw the company’s Belviq and Belviq XR prescription weight loss drug from the U.S. market because the company’s safety clinical trial showed an increased occurrence of cancer, including pancreatic, colorectal and lung cancer.
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February 14, 2020
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of UCL, Negligence Claims Against Lexapro Manufacturers
PASADENA, Calif. — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 11 affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of California unfair competition law (UCL) and negligence claims against manufacturers of the antidepressant drug Lexapro, finding that “the drug's packaging contained clear warning labels about a heightened risk of suicidality for adolescents” (Stephanie Patton, et al. v. Forest Laboratories Inc., et al., No. 18-56336, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 4520).
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February 13, 2020
Judge Dismisses Some Counts Against Theranos Executives In Fraud Case
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge on Feb. 11 granted a motion by Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth A. Holmes and president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani to dismiss fraud claims that relate to nonpaying patients and doctors, but denied dismissal of all other allegations related to the now-defunct blood-testing startup (United States v. Elizabeth A. Holmes, et al., No. 18-cr-258, N.D. Calif., San Jose Div., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24551).
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February 07, 2020
Federal Lawsuits Alleging Zantac NDMA Contamination Centralized In Florida Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judicial panel on Feb. 6 centralized in a Florida federal court 141 federal lawsuits alleging that the over-the-counter heartburn drug Zantac contains or metabolizes into N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), an alleged carcinogen (In Re: Zantac [Ranitidine] Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 2924, JPMDL, No. 20-md-2924, S.D. Fla., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19881).
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February 06, 2020
Dispute Over Secondary Payer Payment Settlement Dismissed In Michigan
DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge on Feb. 3 agreed with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that a declaratory judgment action stemming from a 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak must be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction (David J. Mattila, et al. v. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, No. 19-10446, E.D. Mich., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16892).
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February 05, 2020
Former Generic Executive Indicted For Price Fixing, Bid Rigging
PHILADELPHIA — A former vice president at a New York generic drug manufacturer was indicted Feb. 4 for making a false statement and violating the federal antitrust law by conspiring to fix prices, rig bids and allocate customers (United States v. Ara Aprahamian, No. 20-cr-64, E.D. Pa.).
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February 05, 2020
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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February 05, 2020
Pharmacy Defendants Ask 6th Circuit To Block Order For Opioid Transaction Data
CINCINNATI — Six pharmacy chains on Jan. 22 filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that seeks to block the opioid multidistrict litigation court from forcing them to disclose “transaction level” prescription order data (In Re: CVS Pharmacy, Inc., No. 20-3075, 6th Cir.).
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February 05, 2020
Defense Verdict Returned By Florida Federal Jury In Ethicon Pelvic Mesh Case
MIAMI — A Florida federal court jury on Jan. 21 quickly found after a 12-day trial that a pelvic mesh device made by Ethicon Inc. was not defectively or negligently designed (Charlotte Salinero, et al. v. Ethicon, Inc., No. 18-23643, S.D. Fla., Miami Div.).
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February 05, 2020
Drug Maker Hit With Securities Suit Over Misstated Study Results
SAN FRANCISCO — A shareholder sued a biopharmaceutical company and its CEO in California federal court on Jan. 23, alleging that the defendants concealed negative clinical trial results for the company’s bone marrow cancer treatment drug in violation of federal securities laws (Michael Tollen v. Geron Corp., et al., No. 20-547, N.D. Calif.).
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February 04, 2020
Patient Drug Co-Pay Foundation Pays $3M To Settle Government Kickback Allegations
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patient Services Inc. agreed to pay $3 million to resolve allegations by the U.S. Justice Department that it violated the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b), by funneling money from three drug manufacturers to pay patient drug co-pays, the federal government announced Jan. 21.