Case MDL No. 2754 Document 170 Filed 05/30/17 Page 1 of 3 

UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL 

on 

MUL TIDISTRICT LITIGATION 

IN RE: ELIQUIS (APIXABAN) PRODUCTS 

LIABILITY LITIGATION 

TRANSFER ORDER 

MDL No. 2754 

Before the Panel:· Plaintiffs in the 12 actions listed on Schedule A move under Panel Rule 

7.1 to vacate our orders conditionally transferring their actions to MDL No. 2754. 1 Defendants 

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS) and Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer) oppose the motions to vacate and 

support transfer. Defendant McKesson Corporation did not file a response. 

After considering the argument of counsel, we find that these actions involve common 

questions of fact with the actions transferred to MDL No. 2754 and that transfer under 28 U.S.C. 

§ 1407 will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient 

conduct of the litigation. Like many of the actions in the MDL, these actions involve factual 

questions arising from allegations that Eliquis (apixaban) caused plaintiffs to suffer severe bleeding 

and related injuries, that defendants failed to conduct sufficient testing of the drug, and that 

defendants' warnings and instructions as to the alleged risks were inadequate. See In re: Eliquis 

(Apixaban) Prods. Liab. Litig.,- F. Supp. 3d-, 2017 WL 490702 (J.P.M.L. Feb. 7, 2017). 

In support of their motions to vacate, plaintiffs principally argue that the actions were 

improperly removed, and motions for remand to state court are pending. They also contend that 

remand is a near certainty, asserting that judges in the Northern District of California have ordered 

remand of similar Eliquis cases on the same theory invoked by defendants here. Jurisdictional issues 

do not present an impediment to transfer, as plaintiffs can present these arguments to the transferee 

judge.2 See, e.g., In re: Prudential Ins. Co. of Am. Sales Practices Litig., 170 F. Supp. 2d 1346, 

1347-48 (J.P.M.L. 2001). Additionally, the Panel does not have the authority to determine the 

• Judge Lewis A. Kaplan took no part in the decision of this matter. 

1 Plaintiffs in five other actions also filed motions to vacate orders conditionally transferring 

their actions (Jackson, Garcia, Stark, Fonger, and Stetler). They since voluntarily dismissed their 

actions, and the Panel Clerk thus issued orders vacating the conditional transfer orders as to those 

actions on May 24 and May 25, 2017. 

2 Moreover, under Panel Rule 2.1 (d), the pendency of a conditional transfer order does not 

limit the pretrial jurisdiction of the court in which the subject action is pending. Between the date 

a remand motion is filed and the date that transfer of the action to the MDL is finalized, a court 

generally has adequate time to rule on a remand motion if it chooses to do so.A CERTIFIED COCPLYERK 

BYU~Vk: Deputy lerk 
Case MDL No. 2754 Document 170 Filed 05/30/17 Page 2 of 3 

-2-

applicability of a judge's remand ruling in one case to other arguably similar cases, and thus we 

regularly order transfer of actions over the objection that remand is required under applicable 

precedent.3 Transfer in these circumstances comports with the well-established principle that 

"Section 1407 does not empower the MDL Panel to decide questions going to the jurisdiction or the 

merits of a case, including issues relating to a motion to remand." See In re Ivy, 901 F.2d 7, 9 (2d 

Cir. 1990). 

Plaintiffs further contend that their actions are factually distinct from the centralized actions 

because, in addition to common defendants BMS and Pfizer, they have sued McKesson. But transfer 

does not require a complete identity of parties or factual issues when, as here, the actions arise from 

a common factual core.4 

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the actions listed on Schedule A are transferred to the 

Southern District ofNew York and, with the consent of that court, assigned to the Honorable Denise 

L. Cote for inclusion in the coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. 

PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION 

Sarah S. Vance 

Marjorie 0. Rendell 

Ellen Segal Huvelle 

Catherine D. Perry 

Chair 

Charles R. Breyer 

R. David Proctor 

3 See, e.g., In re: Xarelto (Rivaroxaban) Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 2592, Transfer Order, 

Doc. No. 1040, at 1 (J.P.M.L. Dec. 7, 2016) (transferring two actions over plaintiffs' objection that 

judges in the transferor district had "ordered remand of similar cases removed to that district"); In 

re: Avandia Mktg., Sales Practices and Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1871, Transfer Order, Doc. 

No. 1159, at 1 (J.P.M.L. Oct. 2, 2013) (rejecting plaintiffs' argument that "remand of their actions 

is a foregone conclusion" under the transferee court's remand rulings, noting "we do not have the 

authority to determine the applicability of a ... judge's ruling in one case to other arguably similar 

cases."). 

4 See, e.g., In re: New England Compounding Pharmacy, Inc., Prods. Liab. Litig. , MDL No. 

2419, Doc. No. 382, Transfer Order at 1 (J.P.M.L. Feb. 18, 2014). 
Case MDL No. 2754 Document 170 Filed 05/30/17 Page 3 of 3 

IN RE: ELIQUIS (APIXABAN) PRODUCTS 

LIABILITY LITIGATION 

SCHEDULE A 

Central District of California 

MDL No. 2754 

LEBASTCHI v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 2:16-08115 

DELLUTRI v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 2:16-08124 

WILLIAMS v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 2:16-08133 

AGUIRRE, ET AL. v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 2:16-08137 

BARSKY, ET AL. v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 2:16-09516 

HAYES v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 5:16-02280 

ALTARE, ET AL. v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 5:16-02621 

STUART v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 8:16-01988 

Northern District of California 

SCHNEIDER v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 3:17-00876 

HERNANDEZ v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 3:17-00891 

LAUACHUS, ET AL. v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 4:17-01286 

Southern District of California 

QUARG v. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 3:16-02711