What Comes Next for Depo-Provera Litigation in 2025?
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Depo-Provera lawsuits continue to grow over claims that the contraceptive injection is tied to the development of tumors. 2025 is likely to be a significant year in the litigation.
Most lawsuits involving the drug are still in their infancy, dating back to a study published in the British Medical Journal last March. That study found that Depo-Provera users were at a significantly higher risk of developing a meningioma. This is a type of tumor that forms near the brain or spine. While typically benign, it can cause issues if it grows large enough to press on the brain or spinal cord.
People who developed meningiomas after using Depo-Provera have begun to file lawsuits, with litigation picking up toward the end of last year.
That growth will likely continue and expand in 2025 as a major step in the progress of the lawsuits.
Decision on Depo-Provera MDL Coming Soon
A key question in the Depo-Provera litigation that will soon be determined is whether the lawsuits involving the drug will be consolidated into multidistrict litigation (MDL).
Creating an MDL would group the lawsuits together in a single court before one judge. This process will allow for more streamlined and potentially faster litigation.
Plaintiffs filed a motion for the formation of an MDL at the end of November. In response, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation promptly set a hearing to decide the issue for Jan. 30.
“It’s not unusual for the JPML to act efficiently when the volume of cases suggests an MDL may be warranted,” Brendan Smith, an attorney with the award-winning firm Simmons Hanly Conroy, told Drugwatch. “In this instance, the quick scheduling could indicate that the panel recognizes the urgency and importance of the claims at hand, which is a positive sign for plaintiffs seeking coordination.”
If an MDL is formed, the parties can begin working toward holding bellwether trials. This is when several trials essentially serve as test cases to inform how the many lawsuits would play out if they all individually went to trial.
This helps to determine the outcome of the overall litigation. If the plaintiffs were to win all the bellwether trials, for example, then Pfizer would be heavily motivated to negotiate a settlement with all plaintiffs instead of trying each individual case.
However, MDLs have many steps before trials can occur, so it is unlikely that we will see any bellwether cases in 2025.
Location of MDL Could Play Big Role in Litigation
Pfizer, which manufactures Depo-Provera, has filed court documents. In them, the company states that it agrees an MDL is necessary to handle the litigation. But there could be an upcoming showdown over where the MDL is located.
Plaintiffs have pushed for lawsuits to be centralized in California, which is one of just two states that recognizes innovator liability. Innovator liability allows people who developed meningiomas after receiving generic versions of Depo-Provera to still bring lawsuits against Pfizer.
One factor behind innovator liability stems from the requirement that generic drug labels be identical, or near-identical, to the labels of their brand-name counterparts. Given this, innovator liability would hold Pfizer responsible for drug label issues on generic versions of Depo-Provera.
Generic versions of the drug have been sold, often at a lower price, for years.
Because there’s been a large generic market for over two decades, “many women in California will have received generic-only injections and therefore their cases will only be viable in California,” the plaintiffs’ motion stated.
Pfizer, however, hopes to see the MDL in its home state, New York, where innovator liability is unlikely to be a factor.
“The Southern District of New York is the location of Pfizer’s headquarters — and therefore key witnesses and evidence — and is convenient to lead counsel for both Plaintiffs and Defendants, who are largely on the east coast,” the company stated in court documents. “It is home to experienced judges who have presided over MDLs related to female contraceptive products dealing with similar questions of fact and law.”
It is unclear which side will prevail on the location of the MDL. But, one factor working in the plaintiffs’ favor is the number of cases that have already been filed in California.
The original motion for transfer into an MDL involved 22 total cases, 18 of which were filed in California courts.
If an MDL is approved at the end of this month, it would represent a significant step forward in the Depo-Provera and help set the stage for 2025 to be a year of both growth and progress for the lawsuits.
Lawyers continue to investigate and accept new Depo-Provera lawsuits.
Editor Lindsay Donaldson contributed to this article.