Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Drugs & Devices

  • November 20, 2024

    Federal Circuit Vacates Attorney Fees Denial In Failed Vaccine Act Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A special master abused his discretion when he ruled in a National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (Vaccine Act) case that a special master’s decision in Boatmon v. Sec’y of Health & Hum. Servs. regarding a pathologist’s model linking vaccines and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) did not support a finding of reasonable basis, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals opined, vacating the denial of an attorney fees request by a father who sued following his son’s death and later voluntarily dismissed his claim when the model was found to be “unreliable.”

  • November 20, 2024

    Texas, Kroger Reach $83 Million Deal In Opioid Settlement

    AUSTIN — Kroger Co. has agreed to an $83 million settlement with Texas to settle allegation that the company failed to monitor suspicious opioid orders and contributed to the opioid addiction epidemic, according to a settlement agreement.

  • November 18, 2024

    Parties Settle Injury Case Before Michigan High Court Answers Certified Questions

    DETROIT — Parties disputing whether a woman was injured by a defective limb-lengthening device in a case in which a Michigan federal judge certified to the state Supreme Court a series of questions for clarification on how the learned intermediary doctrine applies to product liability cases filed notice on Nov. 15 that they have reached a settlement.

  • November 15, 2024

    Judge: Untimely Service In Taxotere Eye Injury MDL Doesn’t Warrant Dismissal

    NEW ORLEANS — The judge overseeing multidistrict litigation for cases alleging that a chemotherapy drug caused eye injuries on Nov. 14 denied a motion filed by a drug manufacturer to dismiss three cases for failure to timely serve a complaint.

  • November 15, 2024

    W.Va. High Court Affirms Anti-Suit Injunction Order In Opioid Coverage Dispute

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Almost three years to the day that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals remanded an opioid epidemic coverage dispute for a lower court to consider the breadth of its anti-injunction order, the high court on Nov. 14 affirmed the lower court’s grant of a pharmaceutical distributor’s motion to enjoin insurers sued in West Virginia from pursuing parallel litigation against it in California after finding that, contrary to the lower court’s previous ruling, this order is not overly broad.

  • November 15, 2024

    Co-Mediators Say Work Is Progressing In Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Case

    NEW YORK — Co-mediators who were appointed in Purdue Pharma LP’s bankruptcy case, which is back in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Bankruptcy Code does not allow a liability release for members of the family in a multibillion-dollar opioid bankruptcy settlement, told the court that the parties have reached agreements in principle, including an agreement on the total amount of cash to be provided for the settlement.

  • November 14, 2024

    Mass Tort Cases For Drugs, Medical Devices

    New developments in the following mass tort drug and device cases are marked in boldface type.

  • November 14, 2024

    Baltimore Jury Awards City $266 Million In Opioid Case Against Drug Makers

    BALTIMORE — A Baltimore City, Md., Circuit Court jury found two drug manufacturers liable for public nuisance for their role in causing an opioid epidemic in Baltimore and awarded the city more than $266 million.

  • November 14, 2024

    Exactech MDL Judge Stays All Proceedings After Bankruptcy Court Filing

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The federal judge overseeing the Exactech orthopedic device multidistrict litigation ordered that the MDL be stayed pending resolution of the company’s bankruptcy petition.

  • November 14, 2024

    6th Circuit Upholds ASR Hip MDL Arbitration Award In Decade-Old Dispute

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s judgment confirming an arbitration award in a long-running contingency fee dispute between an attorney and a former client he represented in a DePuy ASR hip litigation, but in a concurrence, one judge criticized the actions of the attorney, saying his conduct “results in disrespect for the legal profession.”

  • November 13, 2024

    Master Long-Form Complaint Filed in GLP-1 MDL Pending In Pennsylvania Federal Court

    PHILADELPHIA — Counsel for plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation involving diabetes and diet drugs on Nov. 13 filed a master long-form complaint against the drug manufacturers, alleging that they “downplayed the nature, duration, extent and seriousness of gastrointestinal events and failed to warn about other adverse events.”

  • November 13, 2024

    OTC Cold Medicine MDL Judge Dismisses All Cases, Won’t Wait For FDA Amendment

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The New York federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation stemming from allegations that over-the-counter cough and cold medications containing the active ingredient phenylephrine (PE) are ineffective at relieving nasal congestion dismissed all claims with prejudice on Nov. 12, rejecting a request by the plaintiffs to hold off granting the parties’ proposed order to dismiss all cases in light of a recent recommendation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • November 12, 2024

    Acetaminophen Autism/ADHD MDL Reopens In New York After New Cases Filed

    NEW YORK — The acetaminophen autism spectrum disorder-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ASD-ADHD) multidistrict litigation, which was closed Aug. 26, has reopened in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York after six cases were accepted as related to the MDL.

  • November 12, 2024

    Settlement Reached In Post-Surgical Complication Suit In N.C. Federal Court

    STATESVILLE, N.C. — An upcoming trial over allegations that a woman suffered post-surgical complications following spinal surgery that included a FiberCel product has been canceled after the parties told a North Carolina federal court on Nov. 11 that a settlement has been reached.

  • November 11, 2024

    Judge Partly Dismisses Claims Over Woman’s Neuropathy From Zinc Supplements

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge partly granted and partly denied a motion to dismiss a woman’s lawsuit against a supplement maker accusing it of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by labeling its zinc supplement as containing a safe daily dose, which the woman alleges was not a safe dose and, after months of daily consumption, caused her to develop permanent peripheral neuropathy.

  • November 11, 2024

    ASD-ADHD MDL Defendants Say Lower Court Properly Excluded Expert Testimony

    NEW YORK — Arguments made by plaintiffs in the acetaminophen autism spectrum disorder-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ASD-ADHD) multidistrict litigation appealing a decision to exclude their expert witnesses “would transform the trial court’s role” in determining admissibility under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (JJCI) and retailers of acetaminophen argue in a brief before the Second Circuit Court U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • November 11, 2024

    9th Circuit Denies Rehearing Of Intervention Denial In Mifepristone Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a mandate to a federal court in Washington, instructing it that the appellate court’s denial of a motion filed by Idaho and other anti-abortion states to intervene in a case involving federal regulations for the abortion drug mifepristone can take effect after the court denied a petition for rehearing en banc.

  • November 11, 2024

    Eye Drop Maker Agrees To Settle Claims Products Were Illegally Marketed

    DENVER — A maker of a homeopathic eye drop has agreed to pay $3.57 million to settle class claims that it sold products without approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to an unopposed motion filed in a Colorado federal court.

  • November 11, 2024

    Parties In OTC Cold Medicine Case Mull How FDA’s Statement Will Impact MDL

    BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Parties in a multidistrict litigation stemming from allegations that over-the-counter cough and cold medications containing the active ingredient phenylephrine (PE) are ineffective at relieving nasal congestion filed a letter with the New York federal judge overseeing the MDL on how a recent recommendation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will impact the parties’ proposed order to dismiss all cases.

  • November 08, 2024

    Consumers, Target Agree To End Case Over Misleading ‘Non-Drowsy’ Medicine Label

    MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge dismissed claims by consumers who allege that Target Corp. misled its customers by labeling its cold medicine as “non-drowsy” after the parties filed a joint stipulation agreeing to settle the case.

  • November 07, 2024

    Taxotere MDL Judge Dismisses Cases Without Substitute For Deceased Plaintiff

    NEW ORLEANS — The federal judge overseeing the Taxotere hair loss multidistrict litigation granted a series of motions to dismiss filed by the manufacturer of the drug, which argued that in each case the plaintiff had died and not been replaced (In Re:  Taxotere [Docetaxel].

  • November 06, 2024

    Judge Adopts Recommendation To Dismiss Defective Medical Device Case

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge overruled objections to a magistrate judge’s second report and recommendation (R&R) that a man’s case alleging that he was injured by a defective medical device be dismissed.

  • November 05, 2024

    Paragard MDL Judge Sets Trial Dates For 1st 2 Bellwether Cases

    ATLANTA —The judge overseeing the Paragard intrauterine device (IUD) multidistrict litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has scheduled dates for the first two bellwether trials.

  • November 05, 2024

    Kroger To Pay $1.37 Billion To States For Its Role In Opioid Epidemic

    CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. and a bipartisan group of attorneys general on Nov. 4 finalized a $1.37 billion settlement with the supermarket chain to settle claims that the company failed to monitor suspicious opioid orders and contributed to the opioid addiction epidemic, according to a settlement agreement.

  • November 05, 2024

    9th Circuit: Lower Court Properly Tossed Defective Device Case As Time-Barred

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a lower court did not err in finding that a man’s product liability claims over a defective medical device were time-barred by California’s two-year statute of limitations and there was no error in the court dismissing the action without leave to amend.