About a dozen plaintiffs filed a joint motion to establish a Depo-Provera MDL (multidistrict litigation) in November, asking the U.S. JPML to centralize all claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where nine cases have been filed.
The motion pointed out there are common questions of fact and law raised in each of their complaints, and establishing an MDL will help prevent duplicative discovery into common issues in the lawsuits, avoid contradicting rulings from different judges, and will serve the convenience of all parties, witnesses and the court system.
On December 10, another three plaintiffs filed a motion in support (PDF) of centralizing the Depo-Provera lawsuits, but instead arguing that the litigation should be transferred to the Central District of California, where at least eight of the cases are currently pending.
The manufacturers of Depo-Provera and generic equivalent birth control shots involved in the lawsuits have not yet filed a response to the motions. However, the U.S. JPML has directed that any opposition must be submitted by Monday, December 23, 2024. Plaintiffs will then have until December 30, 2024 to file any reply.
Depo-Provera MDL Oral Arguments Scheduled
The JPML issued a Notice of Hearing Session (PDF) on December 13, indicating it will hear oral arguments on the Depo-Provera MDL motion at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, Florida, on January 30, 2025.
Such consolidation is common for complex product liability lawsuits brought in the federal court system, where large numbers of cases are pending before different judges that involve similar injuries or damage caused by the same product.
If the JPML agrees to consolidate the Depo-Provera lawsuits into an MDL, all current and future claims will be transferred to one judge for coordinated discovery, pre-trial 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 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.