Bellwether Cases for First Tepezza Hearing Loss Lawsuit Trials Proposed by Parties

Parties involved in the federal Tepezza hearing loss lawsuits have submitted proposals regarding the claims they believe should be prepared for a series of early “bellwether” test trials, which are designed to see how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the litigation.

Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw) is a new generation biologic treatment marketed for thyroid eye disease, which has been linked to reports of irreversible hearing loss among some users.

As a result of Horizon Therapeutic’s failure to warn consumers and the medical community about the potential Tepezza hearing loss side effects, about 200 product liability lawsuits are now being pursued throughout the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that the drug maker placed a desire for profits before consumers’ safety.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in the complaints, a Tepezza MDL (multidistrict litigation) was established in 2023, centralizing claims brought throughout the federal court system in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois under Judge Thomas Durkin, who has been presiding over common discovery and coordianted pretrial proceedings over the past two years.

Early in the MDL proceedings, Judge Durkin established a Tepezza “bellwether” program, where a group of 12 representative cases were selected to go through case-specific discovery and preparations for a series of early trial dates, which are currently scheduled to begin in March 2026.

Following the close of fact discovery late last month, Judge Durkin directed the parties to each submit a proposal outlining which four claims they believe should be the first to go before juries..

On January 17, both plaintiffs (PDF) and defendants (PDF) filed their choices and memorandums explaining why they believe the selections raise claims representative of others in the litigation.

Plaintiffs have proposed that claims filed by Richard Stern, Rebecka Meyers, Sara Meilleur and Joseph Ford be the first to go to trial. Defendants chose lawsuits presented by Gloria Pledger, Amarilis Polanco, Counsuelo Egger and Geri Kanesta-Rychner. The court will later select the final four bellwether cases from those selections, and set the order for the Tepezza hearing loss trials.

While the outcome of these early bellwether trials will not have any binding impact on other claims presented in the litigation, they are being closely watched by lawyers involved in the litigation, as the average Tepezza lawsuit payouts awarded by juries are likely to have a large impact on settlement negotiations between the parties.

Leading up to the first trial date, the parties have already been directed to participate in a series of Tepezza settlement talks, which are being held every quarter to explore a potential resolution for the litigation.

If the parties fail to reach Tepezza hearing loss settlements or another resolution for the litigation following the bellwether trials, Judge Durkin may begin remanding individual cases to U.S. District Courts nationwide for separate trial dates in the coming years.