In a major step for the Depo-Provera litigation, more than 70 lawsuits involving women who developed brain tumors after using birth control shots have been consolidated in Florida.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) ordered the cases to be transferred to the Northern District of Florida.
The Depo-Provera MDL will be overseen by Judge M. Casey Rodgers, who is currently overseeing the 3M Combat Arms Earplug MDL with around 300,000 total claims.
The decision was somewhat unexpected because Pfizer pushed to consolidate the cases near its headquarters in New York, while plaintiffs’ lawyers requested California due to legal issues surrounding generic drug-makers.
Depo-Provera has been sold since 1992, but many women used generic versions. It is unclear if women who used generic versions of Depo-Provera will be part of the Multi-District Litigation (MDL).
Lawsuits generally claim that Pfizer and other manufacturers failed to warn women that Depo-Provera may increase the risk of brain tumors called meningiomas. These brain tumors are usually not cancerous, but they can grow quite large and may need to be surgically removed.
Now that judges have established the MDL, all current and future Depo-Provera lawsuits will be transferred to Judge Rodgers for coordinated discovery, pretrial motions, and potentially jury trials.
Source: 70 Depo-Provera Suits Joined In Florida’s Northern District