NuvaRing Birth Control Lawsuit: Lawyers Designated for Leadership in MDL

United States District Judge Rodney W. Sipple issued an order Wednesday designating lawyers in the recently formed NuvaRing birth control MDL to serve in leadership positions and to act on behalf of all plaintiffs during discovery and pretrial proceedings.

On August 22, 2008, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation centralized all federal NuvaRing birth control lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri before Judge Sipple as part of a federal procedure which allows complex product liability cases to be consolidated and coordinated for pretrial proceedings.

The Nuva Ring lawsuits allege that the once-monthly birth control caused women to suffer heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and other blood clot injuries.

 
NuvaRing is manufactured by Organon Pharmaceuticals and was approved by the FDA in October 2001. It contains a combination of ethinyl estradiol as its estrogen hormone component and etonogestrel as its progestogen hormone component, which has been associated with an increased risk of blood clots even in otherwise healthy young women using the contraceptive ring.

The first case conference was held before Judge Sippel in the MDL last week, on October 2, 2008. At the conference, the court and both parties discussed issues regarding the management of the MDL, which will likely take several years to resolve.
 
In an order issued October 8, 2008, Judge Sipple designated Kristine Kraft to serve as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel; Paul Rheingold, Steven B. Blau, Roger C. Denton and Kristine Kraft as the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee/Lead Counsel.; and Alejandro Alvarez, Carmen S. Scott, Rhett Klok, Jubal L. Hamil and Andrew J. D’Arcy were appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.
 
While individuals who are pursuing lawsuits that have been consolidated in the MDL will all continue to have their own lawyers representing their individual interests, the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee and attorneys appointed to the leadership positions will act on behalf of all plaintiffs during the discovery and pretrial proceedings.
 
Generally, the Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel is charged with maintaining a document depository with a complete record or all documents served in the cases, receives and distributes pleadings and serves as a liaison between the court and the attorneys.

The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, with lead attorneys serving on Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee, includes a small group of attorneys who conduct the pretrial discovery and represent all plaintiffs before the court during hearings and conferences in the NuvaRing litigation.
 
At least 17 lawsuits filed on behalf of about 25 plaintiffs have been consolidated before Judge Sipple. However, NuvaRing lawyers who are reviewing potential cases on behalf of women who used the birth control ring anticipate that more will be filed in the coming months and years as claims are investigated.