Judge Extends Deadlines To Address GLP-1 Lawsuit ‘Cross-Cutting’ Issues

Some issues preventing litigation from moving forward with bellwether trials are not expected to be resolved until next summer.

A federal judge is giving parties involved in Ozempic lawsuits, Wegovy lawsuits and Mounjaro lawsuits more time to complete discovery into several key issues that could have broad effects on the growing litigation, including whether it can be established that side effects of GLP-1 drugs cause gastroparesis, and whether failure to warn claims brought against the manufacturers are preempted by federal law.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly currently face more than 2,800 product liability lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system, each alleging that critical safety information has been withheld from users and the medical community about the popular diabetes and weight loss drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and others.

The lawsuits allege that glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, more commonly known as GLP-1s, cause severe gastrointestinal problems in some users, including gastroparesis, bowel obstructions and other painful side effects.

Due to common questions of fact and law raised in complaints filed in federal courts nationwide, all GLP-1 lawsuits have been centralized into a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, where U.S. District Judge Karen Marston is overseeing pretrial proceedings, coordinated discovery, and plans to prepare a group of representative claims to serve as early test “bellwether” trials.

These trials will allow both sides and the court to see how juries might respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation. However, before scheduling those bellwether trials, Judge Marston required the parties to address certain “cross-cutting” issues that would have widespread implications on the litigation.

Early in the litigation, Judge Marston directed the parties to prioritize discovery and motions on three key issues, including whether claims are preempted by federal law, whether plaintiffs are required to present specific diagnostic testing evidence, and whether there is sufficient general causation evidence linking Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications to gastrointestinal injuries.

In August, Judge Marston ruled on the requirements for diagnostic testing, leaving questions over general causation and preemption laws as yet unaddressed. According to a case management order (PDF) issued by the judge on October 20, plaintiffs and Novo Nordisk jointly requested more time to address these issues, which Judge Marston approved.

 The new deadlines give plaintiffs until December 19 to serve expert reports, and defendants until January 30. It also gives plaintiffs until February 9 to serve rebuttal expert reports, and a March 27 deadline for all parties to complete expert depositions.

The parties must complete motions to exclude expert opinions by April 14, and submissions of summary judgment motions are due by April 16.

After resolving the last two cross-cutting issues, Judge Marston is expected to direct the parties to select several representative Ozempic lawsuits for early bellwether test trials, which will help the parties gauge how juries are likely to respond to evidence and testimony that would be presented throughout the litigation.

While the outcomes of these bellwether trials are not binding on other claims, they could help the parties reach an Ozempic settlement agreement that would avoid the need for each individual case to be sent back to its originating district for costly individual trials in the future.