Every once in a while, you’re asked to name the mass torts.
You typically start with asbestos and breast implants, and then stammer out a few more.
But one of us is now doing some work that requires focusing specifically on the drug and device mass torts, so — cleverly combining client work with blogging work — we thought we’d reproduce here our preliminary list of those cases.
We’ll say at the outset that this list isn’t any good. First, we’re cheating. We didn’t do much work to create this list; we simply went to the MDL Panel’s website, copied the list of “product liability” MDLs, deleted the ones that didn’t sound like drugs or devices, and reproduced the rest here.
Second, the list can’t be trusted. It’s surely over-inclusive, because the MDL Panel occasionally coordinates cases and the litigation then fizzles — it never truly becomes a mass tort.
The list is also under-inclusive, for at least two reasons. First, it’s possible that a mass tort lived its entire life without the MDL Panel ever having coordinated the litigation. (We suspect, however, that that’s probably true only for litigation before 1995 or so. For the last decade, the MDL Panel has fairly regularly coordinated product liability cases, so litigants now routinely bring those issues to the Panel.)
Also, the MDL Panel list from which we extracted the information below appears to include only active MDLs. (For example, why isn’t the Breast Implant MDL included on this list? We assume because the litigation is over, so the MDL Panel no longer lists it on this page of its website. With a little more effort, you could find those closed cases, too, and we’ll probably pursue that avenue off-line. If you need a more comprehensive list, just whistle.)
So, without further ado . . .
(Actually, having said that we cheated to create the list and the list is no damn good, who needs any ado at all?)
. . . we present:
A More or Less Comprehensive List Of the Drug and Device Mass Torts
MDL-865 IN RE Showa Denko K.K. L-Tryptophan Products Liability Litigation
MDL-986 IN RE “Factor VIII or IX Concentrate Blood Products” Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1014 IN RE Orthopedic Bone Screw Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1203 IN RE Diet Drugs (Phentermine/Fenfluramine/Dexfenfluramine) Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1348 IN RE Rezulin Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1355 IN RE Propulsid Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1387 IN RE ProteGen Sling and Vesica System Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1396 IN RE St. Jude Medical, Inc., Silzone Heart Valves Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1401 IN RE Sulzer Orthopedics, Inc., Hip Prosthesis and Knee Prosthesis Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1407 IN RE Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1431 IN RE Baycol Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1477 IN RE Serzone Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1481 IN RE Meridia Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1507 IN RE Prempro Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1574 IN RE Paxil Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1596 IN RE Zyprexa Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1598 IN RE Ephedra Products Liability Litigation (okay, okay; we’ll include dietary supplements)
MDL-1626 IN RE Accutane Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1629 IN RE Neurontin Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1657 IN RE Vioxx Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1699 IN RE Bextra and Celebrex Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1708 IN RE Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1724 IN RE Viagra Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1726 IN RE Medtronic, Inc., Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1736 IN RE Celexa and Lexapro Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1742 IN RE Ortho Evra Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1760 IN RE Aredia and Zometa Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1763 IN RE Human Tissue Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1769 IN RE Seroquel Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1785 IN RE Bausch & Lomb Inc. Contact Lens Solution Products Liability Litigation (we’ll call this a borderline MDL for this list)
MDL-1789 IN RE Fosamax Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1836 IN RE Mirapex Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1842 IN RE Kugel Mesh Hernia Patch Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1871 IN RE: Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1905 IN RE: Medtronic, Inc., Sprint Fidelis Leads Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1909 IN RE: Gadolinium Contrast Dyes Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1928 IN RE: Trasylol Products Liability Litigation
MDL-1934 IN RE Epogen and Aranesp Off-Label Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation
MDL- 1938 IN RE: Vytorin/Zetia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1943 IN RE: Levaquin Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1953 IN RE: Heparin Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1959 IN RE: Panacryl Sutures Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1964 IN RE: NuvaRing Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1966 IN RE: Shoulder Pain Pump – Chondrolysis Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1968 IN RE: Digitek Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 1985 IN RE: Total Body Formula Products Liability Litigation
MDL- 2004 IN RE: Mentor Corp. ObTape Transobturator Sling Products Liability Litigation
There’s a little more information about these MDLs on the MDL Panel website, but we can’t link to it directly. From the homepage, click on “docket information.” Then click on “products liability.” That will give you the list of MDLs we used. You can click on each individual MDL and get information such as the name of the judge and the court.