Invokana Lawsuits Move Forward, With Issuance of New Case Management Order

Published on October 2, 2017 by Sandy Liebhard

Hundreds of Invokana lawsuits continue to move forward in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, where all federally-filed product liability claims involving the Type 2 diabetes treatment have been consolidated before a single judge to facilitate coordinated pretrial proceedings.

775+ Invokana, Invokamet Lawsuits Pending in Federal Litigation

According to a Case Management Order dated September 7^th, at least 775 complaints are currently pending in the federal Invokana litigation, all of which were filed on behalf of plaintiffs who allegedly suffered diabetic ketoacidosis, kidney damage, heart attacks, or strokes, allegedly related to treatment with Invokana or Invokamet.

The Order further notes that three witnesses have been deposed in response to plaintiffs’ deposition notices. The parties were to meet and confer on the schedule for currently-requested depositions and submit a proposed order containing the names of witnesses and dates for depositions to the Court by September 14, 2017.

Finally, the Order indicates that the litigation will convene its next Case Management Conference on October 12, 2017, at 11:00 a.m. The Court has also scheduled the following Case Management Conference for 2018:

• January 11, 2018
• February 8, 2018
• March 8, 2018
• April 12, 2018
• May 10, 2018
• June 7, 2018
• July 19, 2018
• August 23, 2018
• September 13, 2018
• October 11, 2018

Invokana Lawsuit Allegations

Invokana (canagliflozin) was approved by the FDA in March 2013 and was the first SGLT2 inhibitor cleared by the agency to treat Type 2 diabetes. A related medication called Invokamet (canagliflozin and metformin) was approved the following year.  Invokana and other SGLT2 inhibitors worker preventing the absorption of glucose by the kidneys, thereby allowing its elimination from the body via urine.

In December 2015, the FDA announced that the labels for Invokana and other SGLT2 inhibitor drugs would be updated to include information about diabetic ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition that can lead to diabetic coma or death when not recognized and treated appropriately.

The labels for Invokana, Invokamet and several other SGLT2 inhibitors were updated yet again in June 2016, after the medications were linked to more than 100 reports of acute kidney injury.

Invokana and Invokamet lawsuit plaintiffs claim that Johnson & Johnson and its Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary were aware of the risks associated with canagliflozin, but failed to provide appropriate safety warnings to doctors and patients. Plaintiffs further assert that they would have never have taken the medications had they received adequate notification of their risks.

The federal Invokana litigation is expected to convene a series of bellwether trials beginning in September 2018. These trials will act as test cases, and could provide insight into how juries might rule in similar legal claims involving the drugs.