Tylenol Injury Lawyers Appointed to Leadership Roles in Federal MDL

Following an initial status conference held for the recently consolidated Tylenol injury lawsuits in the federal court system, a group of lawyers have been assigned to serve in various leadership positions, charged with taking certain actions that benefit all plaintiffs.

Product liability lawsuits filed in U.S. District Courts throughout the country involving plaintiffs who allege they suffered a liver injury from Tylenol have been centralized for pretrial proceedings before U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania as part of an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation.

Judge Stengel held an initial status conference on May 21, to address matters relating to pretrial and discovery proceedings in the MDL, as well as the organizational structure of the litigation.

In an order (PDF) issued following the conference, Judge Stengel appointed eight different lawyers to serve on a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, including two attorneys who will serve as Co-Lead Counsel.

The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and Co-Lead Counsel will conduct various pretrial discovery on behalf of all plaintiffs who have a lawsuit centralized in the Tylenol MDL, coordinate responses to questions from the Court or other parties, communicate on behalf of all Plaintiffs at pretrial proceedings, submit and argue motions presented to the Court, negotiate stipulations or potential Tylenol injury settlements and perform other tasks that apply to common issues in the litigation.

Tylenol Lawsuits for Liver Failure and Liver Damage

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation established the coordinated proceedings for the Tylenol litigation on April 1, at which time there were about two dozen complaints filed throughout the country. However, the number of cases is expected to continue to increase over the coming months as Tylenol injury lawyers review and file additional lawsuits on behalf of people who suffered liver damage or liver failure, often resulting in the need for a transplant.

Tylenol is a popular painkiller that has been widely used by millions of Americans. Acetaminophen, which is the active pharmaceutical ingredient in the drug, has been linked to a risk of liver injury, and the lawsuits allege that inadequate warnings have been provided about the liver toxicity.

The FDA has indicated that acetaminophen overdose is a leading cause of liver injury in the United States, resulting in more than 50,000 emergency room visits each year, including 25,000 hospitalizations and over 450 deaths annually.

In recent years, efforts have been ramped up to bring acetaminophen overdose side effects to the public’s attention and to reduce the amount of liver failure cases linked to the popular analgesic, which is also found in other pain killers and a number of cold medications.

Johnson & Johnson lowered the maximum recommended dosage on Tylenol and other acetaminophen-based products from 4,000 mg per day to 3,000 mg per day in 2011 after the FDA announced new limits on acetaminophen levels in prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet.

Judge Stengel has scheduled the first monthly conference in the Tylenol MDL for June 24, and has directed the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and attorneys for the defense to submit a joint proposed case management order by June 19, addressing issues related to a plaintiffs’ fact sheet, privilege, direct filing of cases in the MDL, a master complaint and answer and a preservation order.