Merck’s Fosamax Femur Fracture Lawsuit Consolidation Motion Faces Resistance
In March 2011, Merck moved the federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) to merge all existing Fosamax femur fracture lawsuits into one MDL proceeding. (MDL No. 2243—In re: Fosamax (Alendronate Sodium) Products Liability Litigation (No. II).) Merck requested the Panel send the case to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey before District Court Judge Garrett Brown, the district where Merck is headquartered. It requested the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana before United States District Judge Rebecca Doherty as an alternative. MDL saves time and resources by consolidating plaintiffs’ cases in the pretrial phase, so they share the defendant’s pretrial disclosures and benefit from pretrial rulings from one judge rather than many. Unlike a class action lawsuit, plaintiffs receive compensation for their individual injuries rather than an equal share, such as a securities litigation case. Merck is already embroiled in a Fosamax osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) MDL case against more than 900 plaintiffs that began in 2006.
However, two plaintiffs, through their Fosamax femur fracture lawyers, are opposing the motion. The first is Betty Miller (Miller v. Merck & Co., Inc., no. 3:10-cv-00117) whose case is set to go to trial in April 2012 before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois before District Judge Michael Reagan. Ms. Miller claims that MDL will interfere with her scheduled trial. The other opponent, a Patrick Welch (Welch et al v. Merck, Sharp & Dohme, Corp. et al, no. 4:11-cv-00535) argues that there are too few Fosamax femur fracture lawsuits to necessitate MDL, and that they should be folded into the ongoing ONJ MDL. Although, the judge in that case has already ruled that the femur fracture cases differ too much from the ONJ ones to warrant inclusion.
Things are moving quickly in the world of Fosamax femur fracture lawsuits. If you took Fosamax and suffered an atypical low-energy femur fracture, and you want Merck to compensate you for your injuries, consult a Fosamax femur fracture lawyer from the Rottenstein Law Group by clicking on this link or calling 1 (888) 976-8529.
