Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-01034/USCOURTS-cand-3_16-cv-01034-1/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 367
Nature of Suit: TORTS - Personal Injury - Health Care/Pharmaceutical Personal Injury/Product Liability
Cause of Action: 28:1332 Diversity-(Citizenship)

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UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL 

on 

MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

IN RE: CORDARONE (AMIODARONE HYDROCHLORIDE)

MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS

LIABILITY LITIGATION MDL No. 2706

ORDER DENYING TRANSFER

Before the Panel: Plaintiff in an action pending in the Northern District of Alabama (Cook)

*

moves under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 to centralize this litigation in the Western District of Texas. The

litigation consists of nine actions pending in seven districts, as listed on the attached Schedule A.1

Plaintiffs in three constituent actions and two potential tag-along actions responded in

support of centralization in the Western District of Texas. Defendant Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.

(Wyeth) opposes centralization, as do the self-described “Generic Defendants.”2

On the basis of the papers filed and the hearing session held, we deny the Cook plaintiff’s

motion. We recognize that these actions share certain factual issues. These factual issues arise from

allegations that plaintiffs or their decedents suffered injury or death as a result of ingesting the

prescription medication amiodarone, and that defendants, acting both independently and in concert

with others, improperlymarketed the drug for off-label uses, including the initial, first-line treatment

of atrial fibrillation. Several considerations, however, fatally undermine the case for centralization. 

In 1985, Wyeth brought amiodarone to market in the United States under the brand name

Cordarone. The amiodarone at issue in each of these nine actions, however, is alleged to have been

manufactured and distributed by one or more of the Generic Defendants – not by Wyeth. Indeed,

the named defendants vary widely among the cases. For example, Wyeth, which is now the sole

3

 Judge Lewis A. Kaplan and Judge Catherine D. Perry took no part in the decision of this *

matter.

 The Panel has been informed of five additional related federal actions. 1

These defendants are Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA), Inc. (Zydus), Par Pharmaceutical 2

Companies, Inc. (Par), Sandoz Inc. (Sandoz), Eon Labs, Inc. (Eon), Teva Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

(Teva), and Barr Laboratories, Inc. (Barr).

See, e.g., In re: Ambulatory Pain Pump-Chondrolysis Prods. Liab. Litig., 709 F. Supp. 2d 3

1375 (J.P.M.L. 2010) (denying centralization of 102 actions, in part because most, if not all,

defendants were named “in only a minority of actions,” and several were sued in “but a handful”);

Case 3:16-cv-01034-JD Document 25 Filed 06/03/16 Page 1 of 4 Case MDL No. 2706 Document 62 Filed 06/02/16 Page 1 of 4
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remaining defendant in one of the two Northern District of Alabama actions (Allain), is not sued in

either of the two constituent Western District of Texas actions or the Eastern District of Kentucky

action. The only defendant in the Texas actions is Sandoz, and the only defendant in the Kentucky 4

action is Zydus, which is sued in a total of only three constituent actions. Par, Teva, and Barr are

sued in only one constituent action each. Given the different defendants sued in these actions, 5 6

centralization appears unlikely to serve the convenience of a substantial number of parties and their

witnesses. 

The variance in named defendants virtuallyensures that a significant amount of the discovery

will be defendant-specific, as do plaintiffs’ allegations themselves. With respect to plaintiffs’ offlabel marketing allegations, for example, the record shows that Wyeth lost patent protection for

amiodarone in 1998. Accordingly, any discovery into the drug’s marketing up until that time will

be largely, and likelyexclusively, focused on Wyeth, as will discoveryinto the first dozen-plus years

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of the drug’s regulatory history.

 

Plaintiffs also allege that they or their decedents did not receive an FDA-required Medication

Guide with their amiodarone prescriptions. The very nature of these allegations appears to mandate

a unique inquiry, given that the subject drug was manufactured by one of several of the Generic

Defendants and dispensed at different times and at different locations. The necessity for such 8

individualized inquiries suggests that centralization would not achieve significant efficiencies

generally.

In re: Table Saw Prods. Liab. Litig., 641 F. Supp. 2d 1384, 1385 (J.P.M.L. 2009) (denying

centralization of 42 actions, where, inter alia, no defendant was sued in all actions, and several

entities were named in, at most, two or three).

On May 4, 2016, plaintiff in the Eastern District of Kentucky action voluntarily dismissed 4

her claims against Wyeth with prejudice.

Par, Teva, Barr, and Sandoz also initially were sued in the Western District of Wisconsin 5

action, but all have been voluntarily dismissed from that action.

The potential tag-along actions involve still more defendants. For example, one of the two 6

tag-alongs in the District of South Carolina is brought against Upsher-Smith Pharmaceuticals, Inc.,

and Taro Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., neither of which presently is sued in any of the constituent

actions. 

 Wyeth represents that it ceased actively marketing Cordarone in the late 1990s. 7

For example, the Northern District of Alabama Cook plaintiff alleges that her decedent, an 8

Alabama resident, first was prescribed amiodarone, manufactured by Par, in January 2008. By

contrast, in Northern District of California Collette, the plaintiff, a California resident, alleges first

ingesting amiodarone, which was not manufactured by Par, in January 2012.

Case 3:16-cv-01034-JD Document 25 Filed 06/03/16 Page 2 of 4 Case MDL No. 2706 Document 62 Filed 06/02/16 Page 2 of 4
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The limited number of involved counsel further weighs against centralization. Most 9

plaintiffs in the constituent actions are represented by either or both of two law firms. And counsel

for Wyeth and the Generic Defendants have represented that they stand ready and willing to

cooperate and coordinate to avoid unnecessary duplication of discovery and other pretrial matters. 

Especially given the significant differences among these actions, we conclude that such cooperation

and coordination are preferable to the creation of an MDL.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the motion for centralization of these actions is denied.

 PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION

 

 Sarah S. Vance

 Chair

Marjorie O. Rendell Charles R. Breyer

Ellen Segal Huvelle R. David Proctor

See, e.g., In re: HealthExtras Ins. Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., 24 F. Supp. 3d 1376, 9

1377 (J.P.M.L. 2014)(denyingcentralization of six actions pending in six districts (three tag-alongs),

in part because all plaintiffs were represented by the same two law firms).

Case 3:16-cv-01034-JD Document 25 Filed 06/03/16 Page 3 of 4 Case MDL No. 2706 Document 62 Filed 06/02/16 Page 3 of 4
IN RE: CORDARONE (AMIODARONE HYDROCHLORIDE)

MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS

LIABILITY LITIGATION MDL No. 2706

SCHEDULE A

Northern District of Alabama

ALLAIN v. WYETH-AYERST LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 2:14-00280

COOK v. WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 2:15-00529

Northern District of California

COLLETTE v. WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 3:16-01034

Northern District of Illinois

HERNANDEZ v. WYETH-AYERST LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., 

C.A. No. 1:15-11176

Eastern District of Kentucky

MOORE v. WYETH-AYERST LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 3:16-00017

Eastern District of North Carolina

PERDUE v. WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 4:15:00208

Western District of Texas

RUSK v. NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS CORPORATION, ET AL., 

C.A. No. 1:14-00549

PRIEST v. SANDOZ INC., C.A. No. 1:15-00822

Western District of Wisconsin

MARVIN v. SANDOZ INCORPORATED, ET AL., C.A. No. 3:15-00749 

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