Mealey's Drugs & Devices : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Drugs & Devices

December 02, 2024
N.C. State Legislators Argue Against Preemption Ruling For Mifepristone On Appeal

RICHMOND, Va. — A doctor who sued North Carolina over its laws regulating mifepristone, one of the two drugs prescribed for medication abortions, stretches “obstacle preemption beyond recognition,” argue two state legislators who intervened in the case on behalf of the General Assembly after the governor stated that he agreed with the doctor and urged the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reject the argument that laws regulating abortion drugs are preempted by federal law.
December 02, 2024
Walgreens Lidocaine Labeling Putative Class Suit Voluntarily Dismissed

CHICAGO — A putative class complaint by consumers who accused Walgreen Co., doing business as Walgreens, of misleading labeling on certain lidocaine products was dismissed with prejudice by a federal judge in Illinois after the lead plaintiff filed a voluntary stipulation of dismissal.
December 02, 2024
Woman Sues Pfizer, Others, Says Depo-Provera Caused Development Of Brain Tumor

LOS ANGELES — A woman alleges in a complaint filed in a California federal court that her use of Depo-Provera, a long-lasting injectable contraceptive, caused her to develop two intracranial meningiomas, a type of brain tumor, causing significant injury.
December 02, 2024
Magistrate Judge Recommends Partial Dismissal In Defective Medical Device Case

MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended that a medical device product liability suit be partially dismissed but that a woman who alleges that the device broke after being implanted be granted “one final opportunity to amend the claims by way of a Third Amended Complaint.”
November 27, 2024
Federal Judge Tosses Defective Ankle Replacement Device Case As Preempted

TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma federal judge granted an artificial ankle prosthetic device manufacturer’s motion to dismiss a case alleging that a defect in the device caused injuries after finding that the claims are preempted.
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.