The Blog

Posted by Shezad Malik MD JD

“Merck & Co. has agreed that all Propecia lawsuits filed in federal district courts throughout the United States by men who experienced sexual problems after using their hair-loss drug should be consolidated before one judge for pretrial proceedings.

Merck Prefers New Jersey

Merck has suggested that the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation should transfer all cases to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, where 41 of the 53 lawsuits over Propecia have already been filed.

Some plaintiffs proposed that the Propecia MDL be centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, or, in the alternative, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Merck’s attorneys claim that moving the cases to the Eastern District of New York, or the Western District of Washington, would be inefficient because the courts lack familiarity with issues already addressed in a number of the cases.

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is expected to hear arguments on the consolidation of the lawsuits over Propecia at a hearing scheduled for March 29, 2012 in San Diego, California.

It appears that all parties agree that centralizing the Propecia cases as part of an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, would serve the convenience of the parties, prevent duplicative discovery and avoid conflicting pretrial rulings. However, the MDL panel will have to determine what is the most appropriate transfer jurisdiction.”

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