NCAA Case Headed to Trial

Last Friday, Judge Wilken just denied the NCAA’s motion for summary judgment.  This means that she concluded that the Plaintiffs have presented enough evidence to proceed to trial against the NCAA.  In addition, she has limited some of the defenses that the NCAA can raise. 

Click here to read the Order.

Jury Renders Huge Verdict In Actos MDL Bellwether Trial

After a 12 week trial in the first bellwether case in the Actos MDL, the jury has rendered a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, Mr. and Mrs. Allen, as follows:

 - $1,475,000 in compensatory damages

 - $6 Billion in punitive damages against Takeda

 - $3 Billion in punitive damages against Eli Lilly

The case was before the U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana (in Lafayette). The style of the case is In Re: Actos Products Liability Litigation Case No. 6:11-mdl-2299.

It is reported that the jury deliberated for an hour and 10 minutes to deliver its verdict finding liability on all 14 questions, and another 45 minutes to come out with the multibillion dollar punitive damages.

Takeda Pharmaceutical, Japan’s largest drugmaker, said it would contest the $6 billion punitive damages imposed. Eli Lilly will most likely appeal as well. The plaintiffs alleged the drugmaker had concealed cancer risks associated with its Actos diabetes drug. Judge Rebecca F. Doherty wanted post-verdict motions filed quickly but has set no schedule.

Punitive damages are meant to discourage other similar companies from bad conduct. Compensatory damages are meant to pay back victims for their actual losses, or “hard damages”.

Judgments were entered in Takeda’s favor in three previous Actos trials. This was the first trial in the MDL. Last May, a judge nullified a separate jury verdict of $6.5 million against Takeda after a ruling that the plaintiffs failed to offer reliable evidence that Actos actually caused cancer. See my previous blog post regarding that story.

Germany and France have suspended use of the drug in 2011 due to concerns over linkage of the drug to cancer.

Pittman, Dutton & Hellums, P.C. is currently investigating Actos cases. Contact Booth Samuels at 1-866-515-8880 or by email at booths@pittmandutton.com for a free case evaluation. 

MDL Judge Rules Some Fosamax Cases Preempted

The judge overseeing the Fosamax MDL has ruled that claims brought by plaintiffs whose injury is an atypical femur fracture injuries that occurred before the Fosamax label was changed to warn of such risks are federally preempted. His reasoning was the FDA denied Merck & Co.’s previous attempts to enhance the warning label.

Judge Joel Pisano of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held that the court’s preemption ruling in the bellwether case Glynn v. Merck & Co. applies to all pre-label change cases in this MDL. The court found no reason not to apply its preemption ruling to other similarly situated plaintiffs because: (1) the case in question had been selected as a bellwether; (2) preemption had been thoroughly briefed; and (3) plaintiffs had been repeatedly instructed to come forward with all their preemption related evidence.

It is not apparent if the plaintiffs will appeal the Judge’s ruling.

Two Banks Drop Lawsuits Against Target Over Data Breach

Two U.S. banks that sued Target and credit card security firm Trustwave Holdings, Inc., over responsibility for one of the largest data breaches in history have dropped their lawsuits. Both Trustmark National Bank, out of New York, and Houston-based Green BankNA filed dismissals without prejudice to re-filing on Friday and Monday in Federal court in Chicago.

The lawsuits accused Target and Trustwave of failing to properly secure customer data, leading to the theft of about 40 million payment card records and 70 million other records during last year's holiday shopping season. See my previous blog posts for more information on that story.

Trustwave’s position was that Target did not outsource data security to its Chicago-based company, and that Trustwave did not monitor Target's network or process its cardholder data. Agreements and associations between information technology services companies and retailers are often kept confidential, and neither Target nor Trustwave would confirm whether the companies have been partners.

The breach has cost banks millions of dollars in order to correct fraudulent charges and reissue cards. The breach could cost the banking industry more than $1 billion. It has also been reported that Target is offering free credit monitoring to any of its customers, however the program is limited to just one of the three credit reporting agencies.