Claris Law Legal Blogging Community

Editor: Tim O'Brien
Profession: Attorney at Law

Whenever a major pharmaceutical products liability litigation project becomes a consideration of national concern, a panel of judges appointed by the United States Supreme Court can consider whether the project is worthy of pretrial consolidation pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407. This statute allows the Supreme Court to organize the cases, before one United States District Court, for purposes of maximizing the efficiency of discovery and minimizing the costs of litigation to the aggrieved victims.

Recently, Fosamax received such recognition from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and has been centralized into MDL No. 1789, In re Fosamax Products Liability Litigation. This MDL has been sent to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The MDL is not a class action. Nor is it a vehicle from which Fosamax patients can simply apply for relief. Rather, it is a tool for Fosamax plaintiffs who have filed their cases in federal court to use to ensure that Merck faces a coordinated plaintiffs' effort on both the liability (fault) front and science (causation) front.

At Levin Papantonio, we have taken the leadership role in the Fosamax MDL and are are happy to talk with anyone interested as to what the process is and what is has to offer. You may feel free to call me at any time: 850-435-7084. If I am not available, simply ask my paralegal to set a phone conference for me to call you back and I'll be happy to do so!