While only earning a spot on the Judicial Hellholes “watch list” last year, a look at this week’s top news stories suggests New Jersey may be back on the full-on Hellhole list next year thanks to the horde of pharmaceutical lawsuits currently playing out in the state.
Litigation Over Anti-Clot Drug Plavix Continues To Mount in New Jersey
Mary Pat Gallagher | New Jersey Law Journal
Lawsuits alleging health and financial injury from the anti-blood-clot drug Plavix are piling up in New Jersey following the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation’s decision to centralize them here.
There are 73 cases pending under the caption In re Plavix Product Liability and Marketing Litigation, and the MDL Panel on Thursday was considering transfer of another 14. The plaintiffs claim personal injury or financial loss from purchase and use of the drug.
Roche Looks To Sink $2M Accutane Verdict On Appeal
Martin Bricketto | Law360
Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. on Monday asked the New Jersey Appellate Division to overturn a $2.1 million jury award for a former Accutane user because of an expert’s allegedly unreliable testimony and a purported failure to show that a different warning would have changed her doctor’s prescribing practices.
Merck to Pay $100 Million NuvaRing Pact If Women Join
Jef Feeley and David Voreacos | Bloomberg
Merck & Co. (MRK) may pay $100 million to settle thousands of lawsuits over the safety of its NuvaRing contraceptive, a New Jersey judge held, as long as enough women agree to participate in the accord.
The settlement may resolve as many as 3,800 cases in federal and state courts in New Jersey and Missouri, Judge Brian Martinotti in Hackensack said yesterday at a hearing. More than 200 women sued Merck in New Jersey accusing the drugmaker of selling NuvaRing while knowing it posed a higher risk of heart attack-inducing blood clots than competing products.
Drug Makers Argue Against Marketing Depositions in OTC Tylenol MDL
Amaris Elliott-Engel | New Jersey Law Journal
Drug makers McNeil-PPC and Johnson & Johnson are arguing in federal court that plaintiffs alleging injuries from over-the-counter Tylenol should not be able to depose a corporate designee on Tylenol-brand marketing expenditures, public relations and market research.
Discovery is sought over a 44-year-old time period.
Company’s Patent Office Filing Held To Void Attorney-Client Privilege
Mary Pat Gallagher | New Jersey Law Journal
A federal judge, finding a hip-replacement device manufacturer waived attorney-client privilege on communications with its patent counsel, has compelled the disclosure of documents and oral statements in an infringement suit.
U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark found an intentional waiver resulting from a statement filed with the U.S. Patent Office in May 2009, two years before the start of the litigation, Howmedica Osteonics Corp. v. DePuy Orthopaedics.
What Makes Biomet MDL Settlement Different
Amaris Elliott-Engel | New Jersey Law Journal
Some interesting things about the global settlement struck this week over Biomet hip replacements were highlighted in an interview with one of the lead attorneys.
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