In November, a group of plaintiffs filed a motion for transfer with the U.S. JPML, asking that cases brought throughout the federal court system be centralized before one judge in the Northern District of California, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings as part of a Depo-Provera MDL (multidistrict litigation).
According to the motion, each of the complaints raise common questions of fact and law, and thousands of lawsuits may ultimately be included in the litigation. Plaintiffs argue that the establishment of an MDL for the Depo-Provera lawsuits will help prevent duplicative discovery into common issues, avoid contradicting rulings, and serve the convenience of all parties, witnesses and the court system.
Following the motion, both Pfizer, manufacturer of brand name Depo-Provera, and manufacturers of generic versions of the birth control shot, also supported consolidation. However, they indicated it would be more appropriate to centralize the litigation in the Southern District of New York, close to Pfizer’s headquarters.
The parties will present their arguments to the MDL panel today at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, Florida.
If the JPML agrees to consolidate the lawsuits into a Depo-Provera MDL, all current and future claims will be transferred to one judge for coordinated discovery, pretrial motions and potentially a series of early bellwether test cases.
However, if the parties fail to reach Depo-Provera brain tumor settlements or another resolution for the litigation after all pretrial proceedings are concluded, each individual lawsuit may later be remanded back to the U.S. District Court where it was initially filed for an individual trial in the future.