Morehead et al v. McKesson Corporation et al

Filing 24

ORDER TRANSFERRING CASE to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. IN RE: AVANDIA MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION. MDL No. 1871. Signed by John G. Heyburn II, Chairman of the Panel on 4/2/14. (aaaS, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 4/3/2014)

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UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL on MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION IN RE: AVAND IA MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION MDL No. 1871 TRANSFER ORDER Before the Panel:• Pursuant to Panel Rule 7 .1, plaintiffs in the four actions listed on the attached Schedule A move to vacate our orders conditionally transferring the actions to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for inclusion in MDL No. 1871. Responding defendant GlaxoSmithKline LLC (GSK) opposes the motions. In their motions to vacate, plaintiffs principally argue that transfer should not take place unless and until their pending motions for remand to state court are denied. As we frequently have held, however, the pendency of a remand motion is not, as a general matter, a sufficient reason to delay or deny transfer. 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 the Panel finalizes transfer of the action to the MDL, a court wishing to rule upon that motion generally has adequate time to do so. Plaintiffs also argue that they would be inconvenienced by transfer. As we have explained, however, in deciding issues oftransfer under Section 1407, we look to the overall convenience of the parties and witnesses, not just those of the parties to a given case or cases. See, e.g., In re Watson Fentanyl Patch Prods. Liab. Litig., 883 F. Supp. 2d 1350, 1351-52 (J.P.M.L. 2012). Furthermore, because Section 1407 transfer is for pretrial proceedings only, there is usually no need for the parties and witnesses to travel to the transferee district for depositions or otherwise. See In re MLR, LLC, Patent Litig., 269 F. Supp. 2d 1380, 1381 (J.P.M.L. 2003). After considering all argument of counseL we find that these four actions involve common questions of fact with actions previously transferred to MDL No. 1871, and that transfer will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation. Moreover, transfer is warranted for the reasons set out in our original order directing centralization. In that order, we held that the Eastern District of Pennsylvania was an appropriate Section 1407 forum for actions involving factual questions "aris[ing] from allegations that certain diabetes drugs manufactured by GSK - Avandia and/or two sister drugs containing Avandia (Avandamet and Avandaryl) - cause an increased risk of heart attack and other physical injury, and that GSK failed to provide adequate warnings concerning that risk." See In re Avandia Mktg., Sales Judge Marjorie 0. Rendell and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan took no part in the decision of this matter. ATRU-E COPY.LERTl,1£0 TO FROM TH-EA~-_ !).ATED: - ' ~ I ~OJ '-f ,, 4_ , . ,.. . ('., . - 1~'12 :: ltai. q ~~- _ -~ ~~:::;.,~--.,.--~-T.. D~PUTY eurnf\. UNIT~--li\TFS ii:,,,•,,"\ .,,\{;.dh-. ," •;~ )".-~ ·'. ~.,_' ~~? •,.-,~;' ~~ ~: '{ J "~~"~~·> j_\J ,~";/,c•\ -2- Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig., 528 F. Supp. 2d 1339, 1340-41 (J.P.M.L. 2007). Plaintiffs do not dispute that their actions share multiple factual issues with those already in the MDL. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, these actions are transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and, with the consent of that court, assigned to the Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe for inclusion in the coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings. PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION Chairman Charles R. Breyer Ellen Segal Huvelle Sarah S. Vance IN RE: AV AND IA MARKETING, SALES PRACTICES AND PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION SCHEDULE A Middle District of Alabama GORE V. GLAXOSMITHKLINE, LLC, C.A. No. 3: 13-00897 Northern District of California MOREHEAD, ET AL. V. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 3:13-05842 LAFOUNTAINE, ET AL. V. MCKESSON, ET AL., C.A. No. 4:13-05841 STADIG, ET AL. V. MCKESSON CORPORATION, ET AL., C.A. No. 4:14-00416 MDL No. 1871

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