Fosamax Lawsuits Consolidated
If you have experienced serious side effects from Fosamax, you may have a case. Fosamax lawsuits are now being heard in multidistrict litigation, a process that brings several different cases together. You may be eligible for a court award or settlement. As a drug manufacturer, you must ensure the safety of its products. Failure to warn consumers about the risks associated with Fosamax is a breach of duty of care.
Fosamax lawsuits are consolidated into one legal action
As a result, the Fosamax lawsuits are consolidated. These lawsuits have a common fact: many of the plaintiffs are atypical femur fracture victims. Plaintiffs’ claims center around a causal link between the drug and atypical fractures. Because Merck unilaterally changed the label of Fosamax using the CBE process, plaintiffs argued that this was a factor in the drug’s potential to cause stress fractures. However, Merck’s use of the term “stress fracture” was misleading. Plaintiffs also argue that a jury could reasonably find that the FDA would not have rejected their proposed warning if the drug was recalled before the term was invented.
The consolidated Fosamax litigation in New Jersey state court involves an active Tampa Bay resident who filed a claim against Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Barr Laboratories, and Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories. This plaintiff was diagnosed with serious injuries from Fosamax after taking the drug for nearly a decade. Plaintiffs’ cases alleged that Merck failed to add adequate warnings to the Fosamax label. Additionally, many of the plaintiffs also claimed the drugs were defectively designed and a breach of warranty.
Cases are being heard in North Dakota and Minnesota
Fosamax is a popular osteoporosis medication. It increases bone density in the body, and its manufacturers, Merck & Co, have been facing lawsuits over the drug’s safety. Over 10 million people have taken Fosamax to treat osteoporosis and Paget’s disease. But the drug has also been linked to ONJ, or osteonecrosis of the jaw.
A lawsuit against Fosamax, a bisphosphonate, alleges that the drug may have caused an increased risk of osteoporosis, a disease in which bones become thin and more likely to break. Osteoporosis occurs in women as they age, but can also be caused by corticosteroid medications. Fosamax has been linked to the development of ONJ in more than 2,400 patients.
Cases are being heard in multidistrict litigation
Multidistrict litigation for Fosa max has recently been formed to try to make the Fosamax manufacturer compensate patients for their injuries. This litigation stems from the femur fracture lawsuits filed by patients. Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr. was assigned to oversee the femur fracture litigation in New Jersey. There are more than 4,000 cases filed in multidistrict litigation in New Jersey and New York.
In this case, Merck argues that the failure-to-warn claims against it are barred by federal law. In a landmark decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court held that pharmaceutical companies cannot be sued if they fail to warn the public about the risks of their products. In this case, Merck argued that the FDA rejected the warning label it submitted in 2008 for Fosamax and that the rejection preempts state-court suits alleging that Merck should have revised its labels.
Cases have been settled
The first Fosamax lawsuit cases were filed in 2005. By 2006, the cases had been consolidated into multidistrict litigation. Now, the cases go before Judge John Keenan in the US District Court of Manhattan. Rhoda Scheinberg received a $285,000 award in February. Another plaintiff, Shirley Boles, was awarded $8 million. In total, seven bellwether cases have been awarded $8 million in damages.
Merck has had to prove that there is a connection between Fosamax and atypical femur fractures, a claim that Merck has denied. However, the FDA has found that the evidence supporting a link between Fosamax and atypical femur fractures is weak. The agency’s final determination in these lawsuits hinges on Merck’s proof that the warning would not have been approved if there had been evidence supporting a link.
If you have experienced serious side effects from Fosamax, you may have a case. Fosamax lawsuits are now being heard in multidistrict litigation, a process that brings several different cases together. You may be eligible for a court award or settlement. As a drug manufacturer, you must ensure the safety of its products. Failure to…