MDL Panel To Consider Depo-Provera Brain Tumor Lawsuit Consolidation at Hearing Today

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will hear oral arguments today to decide whether all Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits brought by women nationwide should be centralized before one judge, and determine which federal district court is the most appropriate venue to manage the pretrial proceedings.

Depo-Provera is a hormonal birth control shot approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1992, which has been used by more than 70 million women, based on the belief that it is a safe and effective means of preventing pregnancy.  However, recent studies have found a link between Depo-Provera and brain tumors, indicating that women receiving the birth control shot may face a five-fold greater risk of developing meningiomas.

As a result, dozens of women are now pursuing Depo-Provera lawsuits against the manufacturers, each raising similar allegations that false and misleading information has been provided about the potential side effects of the birth control shot. However, as more women learn that they may have developed a meningioma from Depo-Provera, the size and scope of the litigation is expected to continue to expand.

In November, a group of plaintiffs filed a motion for transfer with the U.S. JPML, asking that cases brought throughout the federal court system be centralized before one judge in the Northern District of California, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings as part of a Depo-Provera MDL (multidistrict litigation).

According to the motion, each of the complaints raise common questions of fact and law, and thousands of lawsuits may ultimately be included in the litigation. Plaintiffs argue that the establishment of an MDL for the Depo-Provera lawsuits will help prevent duplicative discovery into common issues, avoid contradicting rulings, and serve the convenience of all parties, witnesses and the court system.

Following the motion, both Pfizer, manufacturer of brand name Depo-Provera, and manufacturers of generic versions of the birth control shot, also supported consolidation. However, they indicated it would be more appropriate to centralize the litigation in the Southern District of New York, close to Pfizer’s headquarters.

The parties will present their arguments to the MDL panel today at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, Florida.

If the JPML agrees to consolidate the lawsuits into a Depo-Provera MDL, all current and future claims will be transferred to one judge for coordinated discovery, pretrial 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 for the litigation 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.