Judge Selects Five Depo-Provera Brain Tumor Lawsuits for “Pilot” Trials Weeks After MDL Established

Following the first case management conference with lawyers last week, the MDL judge moved quickly to identify a small group of Depo-Provera lawsuits to work up for trial, skipping the usual lengthy selection process.

In a very rare move for a new multidistrict litigation, the U.S. District Judge appointed earlier this month to preside over all Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits has already chosen five “pilot” claims, which will be prepared for a series of early test trials.

The announcement was made during the court’s first meeting with Depo-Provera lawyers on February 21, at an initial case management conference for the recently established federal multidistrict litigation (MDL).

The five cases will be fast-tracked for trial in the Depo-Provera litigation, which  emerged late last year following studies that found a link between Depo-Provera and meningiomas, which is a type of brain tumor that can develop years after receiving the birth control shots.

Following the publication of these findings, dozens of Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits have been brought by former users throughout the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that the drug manufacturers knew, or should have known about meningioma risk for decades, yet failed to warn patients or the medical community.

There are currently at least 70 product liability lawsuits being pursued against Pfizer and manufacturers of certain generic versions of the birth control injection, each raising similar allegations that users and the medical community were not adequately warned about the Depo-Provera meningioma side effects. However, the size and scope of the litigation is expected to continue to expand throughout the year, as more women learn their brain tumors may be the result of Depo-Provera shots received years earlier.

Given common allegations raised in the cases, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) established a Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuit MDL on February 7, assigning claims brought throughout the federal court system to U.S. District Judge Casey M. Rodgers in the Northern District of Florida, for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Judge Rodgers wasted no time after her appointment convening the parties for an initial status conference on February 21, where she revealed that the Court had already selected five “pilot” lawsuits chosen to go through case-specific discovery and early trial dates, which will be used to help gauge how juries will respond to evidence and testimony likely to be used throughout the litigation.

Usually choosing a slate of bellwether trials can take months or even more than a year for multidistrict litigations. However, Rodgers has a reputation for quickly and efficiently resolving large litigations, having driven a rapid trial schedule for hundreds of thousands of recent 3M earplug lawsuits, which resulted in a global settlement for military veterans who suffered hearing problems due to the defective products being standard military issue for years.

Depo-Provera Pilot Lawsuits

Following the initial status conference, Judge Rodgers issued a case management order (PDF) on February 23, identifying the five selected pilot cases.

The five lawsuits include a claim by Donna Toney (PDF) of Florida, who asserts that her Depo-Provera injections caused a slowly growing brain tumor. Toney had to undergo brain surgery to remove the tumor after experiencing vertigo, dizziness, and hearing loss.

Another pilot case was filed by Alicia Wilson (PDF) of California last November, who underwent a craniotomy to surgically remove a meningioma she says developed after years of receiving the injections. Another California woman, Rachel Valera-Arceo (PDF) and her husband filed a similar claim that same month, which was also selected as a pilot claim.

The cases also include a lawsuit by California resident Kristina Schmidt (PDF),  who filed a claim in October indicating that she received about 64 Depo-Provera injections from 2005 to 2021, resulting in an intracranial meningioma that required extensive surgery to remove. Similarly, Allison Blonski (PDF), of New Jersey, was the fifth Pilot lawsuit, filed in December. Blonski indicates that doctors discovered her brain tumor in August, and has not yet had the tumor removed.

“The work of the MDL will be accomplished through the Pilot cases,” Judge Rodgers wrote. “In short order, the Defendants will be required to respond to the five Pilot complaints, raising all defenses. Common issues and defenses will be identified and ruled on early, and subsequent case specific discovery will essentially provide a vetting opportunity for the litigation that will narrow the issues for the entire MDL.”

She ordered the parties to begin discussing a potential direct filing order, which would allow new Depo-Provera brain tumor lawsuits to be efficiently filed with the MDL, and called on plaintiffs’ attorneys to submit a proposal for leadership structure and positions by this Friday.

While the results of the early pilot Depo-Provera trials will not be binding on the other claims pending in the litigation, they will be closely watched to see how jurors respond, which could influence potential Depo-Provera brain tumor settlements the manufacturer offers to avoid the need to defend each individual case at trial in the future.