JPML to Hear Oral Arguments on Invokana, Hernia Mesh Lawsuit Consolidation

Published on November 29, 2016 by Sandy Liebhard

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) is scheduled to convene its next Hearing Session on December 1^st in Charlotte, North Carolina. Court records indicate that the Panel will hear Oral Arguments regarding a number of litigations, including those involving Invokana and Atrium Medical Corp.’s C-QUR hernia patch.

Invokana Litigation

More than 50 Invokana lawsuits have been filed in federal courts on behalf of individuals who suffered diabetic ketoacidosis, kidney problems, heart attacks and other injuries allegedly related to their use of the Type 2 diabetes medications. All of the plaintiffs similarly allege that they were not adequately warned about the side effects associated with the drug, which was the first SGLT2 inhibitor to be approved for use in the U.S.

Invokana plaintiffs are seeking to have the federal docket centralized in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey. Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen’s Pharmaceuticals unit have also voiced support for this proposal.

Hernia Mesh Litigation

Atrium’s C-QUR surgical mesh is the subject of at least 15 product liability claims, all of which were filed on behalf of individuals who allegedly experienced severe and debilitating complications when C-QUR was used in hernia repair.  On October 10^th, a number of plaintiffs involved in these cases filed a Motion with the JPML seeking the transfer of all such federal claims to the U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire. Atrium also supports this proposal.

The JPML is set to consider centralization of Atrium C-QUR cases just as lawsuits involving Ethicon, Inc.’s Physiomesh Flexible Composite hernia mesh device begin to mount in courts around the U.S.   Ethicon withdrew the hernia patch from the worldwide market in May, after unpublished data from two European registries indicated the recurrence and revision rates following laparoscopic ventral hernia pair were higher with the device than rates associated with the comparator set of mesh.

In September, a Florida woman filed suit in federal court for injuries allegedly related to Physiomesh Flexible Composite Mesh. Another Physiomesh lawsuit currently pending in Illinois federal court is scheduled to go to trial on January 22, 2018.