Chantix Lawyers Set to Meet with MDL Court on Monday

Lawyers involved in the Chantix litigation, which was recently consolidated in federal court for pretrial proceedings, are scheduled to meet with the Court for the first time on Monday, to discuss management of the cases and the leadership structure of the multidistrict litigation (MDL).

Dozens of Chantix lawsuits filed in federal district courts throughout the United States have been centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama before District Judge Inge P. Johnson. All of the cases involve allegations that Pfizer failed to fully research their stop-smoking drug or adequately warn about the potential risk of Chantix side effects, which could increase the risk of suicide, suicidal attempts, abnormal behavior and other problems.

In October 2009, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered that 34 Chantix cases be consolidated for pretrial proceedings before Judge Johnson. Since that time, another 41 lawsuits over Chantix have been transferred into the MDL as tag-along cases, and many Chantix lawyers expect that hundreds of additional cases will be filed in the coming months.

The agenda for the conference, laid out by a court order issued in November, called for the parties to discuss whether it may be possible to reach an early Chantix settlement. Counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants were also asked to submit brief written reports prior to the meeting, which explain their preliminary understanding of the facts involved in the Chantix litigation and what they expect the critical factual and legal issues to be.

At the meeting, or shortly after, it is expected that Judge Johnson will appoint Chantix attorneys to serve in leadership roles, including lead counsel, liason counsel and members of the plaintiffs’ steering committee, who will perform services that benefit all plaintiffs who have filed a Chantix lawsuit.

In consolidated MDL proceedings, lead counsel typically act as a spokesperson for all plaintiffs at the pretrial proceedings and in response to inquiries from the court, as well as submit and argue motions before the court, examine witnesses at hearings and negotiate stipulations and potential settlements with the defendants, which would apply to all cases. The liaison counsel receive and distribute orders from the Court and documents from opposing counsel, as well as assist in the coordination of activities between both parties. Members of the steering committee are appointed to conduct discovery and other services during pretrial litigation.

Chantix (varenicline) was approved by the FDA in 2006 as a prescription medication to help people quit smoking. The drug works by reducing the positive feelings that come from cigarettes, blocking the receptors in the brain commonly stimulated by nicotine. However, the drug has been linked to increased risks of suicide and suicide attempts, aggressive behavioral changes and other psychiatric side effects, which have resulted in fatal or catastrophic injuries for many users.

The FDA has received hundreds of adverse event reports involving Chantix problems, leading to a “black box” warning being added to the medication in June 2009 to warn consumers and the medical community about the potential psychological side effects. Pfizer has also been required to conduct clinical trials providing more data on how often neuropsychiatric symptoms with Chantix occur and what conditions cause them.