Martin et al v. Wyeth et al

Filing 23

AMENDED ORDER: Jury Trial set for 8/13/2012 at 9:30 AM in Little Rock, Arkansas. Another MDL bellwether trial will commence on 12/5/2012 at 9:30 AM. All deadlines included in this Order apply to both trial settings; if the parties feel that weekly te lephone conferences, would be helpful, they are directed to notify the Court; the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee is directed to forthwith notify all potential parties who may be affected by Daubert rulings on obesity. Signed by Judge Billy Roy Wilson on 3/20/2012. (dmn)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS
WESTERN DIVISION

IN RE:
PREMPRO PRODUCTS LIABILITY
LITIGATION

:
:
:
:

MDL DOCKET NO. 4:03-CV-1507-BRW

AMENDED ORDER
Defendants indicated that Barbara Martin, et al. v. Wyeth, et al., 4:04-CV-00795-BRW,
which was scheduled first out for trail on August 13, 2012, has settled.1 Accordingly, Christine
Austin, et al. v. Wyeth, et al., 4:05-cv-01035-BRW is substituted and will be the third out case
The following cases are scheduled for a jury trial commencing on August 13, 2012, in
Little Rock, Arkansas: Yvonne Parsons v. Wyeth Inc., et al., 4:04-cv-00358-BRW (first out); Kay
Graves v. Wyeth Inc., et al., 4:04-cv-00357-BRW (second out); and Christine Austin, et al. v.
Wyeth, et al., 4:05-cv-01035-BRW (third out).
Another MDL bellwether trial will commence at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, December 5,
2012. All of the below deadlines apply to the December trial as well. If all of the above listed
cases are resolved, new cases, with new deadlines, will be selected.
1.

Bellwether Trial Deadlines and Information

I realize the parties want to “make a record” in individual cases, but unless there is
something significantly different in these cases from Curtis v. Wyeth,2 I intend to follow each of
my previous rulings. Unless you advise me that there actually is a significant difference (other
than the obesity causation issue), with specificity, by 5 p.m., Monday, April 30, 2012, I’ll
assume the issues are essentially the same.

1

Doc. No. 2978.

2

3:05-CV-00074-BRW.
1

If the parties feel that weekly telephone conferences, like those held in previous
bellwether trials, would be helpful, please let me know and we will set them.
Please note well the deadlines set forth below because I am going to be disinclined to
grant extensions. In other words, don’t count on extensions even though I have granted them in
the past without much fuss.
The deadlines are as follows:3
April 30

Discovery cutoff.
Plaintiffs say which case-specific expert witnesses they likely will call, produce
case-specific reports, and provide dates for their depositions.

May 14

Defendants say which case-specific expert witnesses they likely will call, produce
case-specific reports, and provide dates for their depositions.

May 29

Dispositive motions must be filed.

June 4

Daubert motions must be filed.

June 11

Responses to dispositive motions must be filed.

June 18

Responses to Daubert motions must be filed.
Replies to dispositive motions must be filed.

June 27

Hearing on Daubert and dispositive motions, if necessary.4

July 9

Motions in limine must be filed.
Parties must exchange deposition designations.

July 16

Pretrial information sheets must be filed.
Parties must exchange counter designations.
Blocks of time recommendations must be submitted to the Court.
Objections to exhibits and parties exchange lists of rebuttal exhibits.

3

Unless otherwise noted, the deadline is 5 p.m., CST, on the designated day. Reply briefs
are not to exceed 5 pages.
4

The hearing will commence at 9 a.m., CST.
2

July 23

The parties must submit to the Court deposition designations and counter
designations of witnesses not previously designated or ruled on in the HRT cases
in the EDAR, along with any objections, in the format used in previous bellwether
trials. For witnesses whose deposition designations were ruled on previously,
the rulings remain the same.
Objections to pretrial information sheets.
Responses to motions in limine must be filed.

July 25

Date by which second and third out cases will be bumped to the December trial
date, if the first out case has not been resolved.

July 30

Parties are to provide my courtroom deputy exhibit lists.
Agreed set of jury instructions submitted to the Court. Opposing proposed
instructions are to be submitted for instructions which cannot be agreed upon.

August 13

2.

Trial commences at 9:30 a.m.5

Daubert Issue re: Obese Plaintiffs

Because of an issue that arose in previous Daubert briefing, I want to make sure the
scope of the Daubert obesity causation issue is clear: the parties are submitting briefing and
expert reports on the issue of whether an expert can reliably rule out an obese woman’s own
estrogen as a cause of her breast cancer; and I believe it would be meet and proper for any
rulings on this issue to apply to all cases that involve this issue.
If an individual Plaintiff believes her case is an exception, or has her own specific expert
to proffer, she should meet and confer with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.
Since an MDL is intended to resolve common issues and is grounded in efficiency, I
believe all of these issues should be handled once. Full briefing and rulings on common issues

5

Lawyers should arrive no later than 8:00 a.m. on the date of trial to meet with my
courtroom deputy re: exhibits.
3

ordinarily should not be nullified simply because a party later claims that she was not directly
involved in briefing the issue.
The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee is directed to forthwith notify all potential parties
who may be affected by Daubert rulings on obesity.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 20th day of March, 2012.

/s/ Billy Roy Wilson
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

4