Digitek Litigation Stayed Until October by MDL Judge

A federal judge has issued a temporary stay of the Digitek litigation pending in the MDL, halting all proceedings for 75 days in lawsuits filed on behalf of individuals who claim to have suffered severe or fatal injuries after receiving too much of the heart drug prior to a recall issued in 2008.

In an August 12 order, Chief Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, of the US. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, ordered a stay of the litigation until October 26, 2010. The stay affects all discovery, motion practices and any scheduled hearings.

Hundreds of Digitek lawsuits filed in federal courts throughout the United States are currently consolidated and centralized before Judge Goodwin in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia as part of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL.

Judge Goodwin did not disclose why the stay of Digitek litigation was ordered, other than to indicate that it was for “reasons appearing to the court.” The first “bellwether” Digitek trial was previously scheduled to begin on January 31, 2011, but it is unclear whether the stay will delay that trial date.

Digitek is a generic version of the drug digoxin, used to treat congestive heart failure, abnormal heart rhythms, atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation. The medication is extremely dose-specific with a narrow therapeutic index. If too little of drug is prescribed it can be ineffective, and if too much is prescribed it can lead to a Digitek overdose, where the drug builds up in the system. This can result in a serious and potentially life-threatening condition known as digitalis toxicity.

In April 2008, Actavis Totowa issued a Digitek recall for all lots of the heart drug after it was discovered that some tablets may have been commercially released that were twice as thick as they were supposed to be. The error potentially exposed thousands of users to a risk of digoxin overdose or poisoning.

According to a December 2008 report released by the non-profit Center for Public Justice, the FDA received reports of at least 667 Digitek overdose deaths tied to the recalled pills between April 2008 and June 2008.