Depo-Provera Lawsuit MDL Application Will Be Considered by JPML at Hearing on Jan. 30, 2025

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will hear oral arguments next month to determine whether all Depo-Provera lawsuits should be transferred to one U.S. District Judge, since they each involve similar claims that women developed meningioma brain tumors from the popular birth control shot.

Depo-Provera has been widely used by women throughout the U.S. since 1992, as a quarterly injection to prevent pregnancy. However, concerns emerged about the link between Depo-Provera and brain tumors earlier this year, following the publication of studies that found women receiving the birth control shot may face five times the risk of developing meningiomas compared to women using other forms of contraception.

Over the past few months, at least 28 Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits have been filed in eight different U.S. District Courts, each claiming that the drug makers knew or should have known about the risks, but failed to provide adequate warnings and information for users and the medical community.

With about 25% of sexually experienced women in the U.S. having received Depo-Provera shots, it is expected that the size and scope of the litigation will expand dramatically in the coming months, and the JPML will consider whether the litigation should be transferred to one court for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

About a dozen plaintiffs filed a joint motion to establish a Depo-Provera MDL (multidistrict litigation) in November, asking the U.S. JPML to centralize all claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where nine cases have been filed.

The motion pointed out there are common questions of fact and law raised in each of their complaints, and establishing an MDL will help prevent duplicative discovery into common issues in the lawsuits, avoid contradicting rulings from different judges, and will serve the convenience of all parties, witnesses and the court system.

On December 10, another three plaintiffs filed a motion in support (PDF) of centralizing the Depo-Provera lawsuits, but instead arguing that the litigation should be transferred to the Central District of California, where at least eight of the cases are currently pending.

The manufacturers of Depo-Provera and generic equivalent birth control shots involved in the lawsuits have not yet filed a response to the motions. However, the U.S. JPML has directed that any opposition must be submitted by Monday, December 23, 2024.  Plaintiffs will then have until December 30, 2024 to file any reply.

Depo-Provera MDL Oral Arguments Scheduled

The JPML issued a Notice of Hearing Session (PDF) on December 13, indicating it will hear oral arguments on the Depo-Provera MDL motion at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, Florida, on January 30, 2025.

Such consolidation is common for complex product liability lawsuits brought in the federal court system, where large numbers of cases are pending before different judges that involve similar injuries or damage caused by the same product.

If the JPML agrees to consolidate the Depo-Provera lawsuits into an MDL, all current and future claims will be transferred to one judge for coordinated discovery, pre-trial motions, and potentially a series of early bellwether test cases. However, if the parties fail to reach Depo-Provera brain tumor settlements or another resolution after all pretrial proceedings are concluded, each individual lawsuit may later be remanded back to the U.S. District Court where it was initially filed for an individual trial in the future.