Pfizer Agrees Viagra Lawsuits Over Melanoma Risks Should be Consolidated

With a growing number of Viagra lawsuits being filed by men diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, Pfizer has told a panel of federal judges that it agrees with a recent request filed by plaintiffs to consolidate the cases before one judge for coordinated pretrial proceedings.

Pfizer currently faces at least two dozen product liability lawsuits pending in 11 different U.S. District Courts, each involving similar allegations that the drug maker failed to provide adequate warnings about the melanoma risks from Viagra side effects.

Earlier this month, a group of plaintiffs filed a request with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, seeking to centralize all Viagra melanoma lawsuits pending in the federal court system in one court to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues in the cases, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges and to serve the convenience of the witnesses, parties and the judicial system.

In a response (PDF) filed on December 22, Pfizer indicates that it does not oppose the request to consolidate the cases as part of a Viagra MDL (Multi-District Litigation) and agrees that the Northern District of California is the most appropriate transferee forum.

Pfizer indicates that the science behind the Viagra cases brought by men diagnosed with melanoma is flawed, and that the drug maker plans to move to have all of the cases dismissed once they are centralized before one judge.

“Given the absence of any scientifically reliable evidence that Viagra can cause melanoma, it is the pivotal common issue, and it further justifies transfer of these cases,” wrote Pfizer in the filing last week. “Indeed, because the general causation inquiry is dispositive of all claims, it warrants consideration early in a coordinated proceedings… Should the Panel grant Plaintiffs’ motion to transfer, Pfizer accordingly will seek in the transferee forum early consideration of the common issue of general causation, which would further conserve – and be the most efficient use of – the resources of the parties and the Court.”

Viagra Melanoma Side Effects

Viagra (sildenafil citrate) was introduced by Pfizer in 1998, and it has become one of the most widely recognized brand-name medications on the market in the United States, used by millions of men to treat impotence and sexual dysfunction, including the inability to develop or maintain an erection.

Since its approval in 1998, Viagra has been prescribed to an estimated 35 million men, and is generally considered safe by most consumers. However, recent studies suggest that the medication may reduced the body’s ability to resist the spread of melanoma.

The Viagra litigation over melanoma has emerged since a study was published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine in April 2014, in which researchers from Harvard Medical School found that men who took Viagra were 84% more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma than men who do not use the drug.

Plaintiffs allege that Pfizer knew or should have known about the link between Viagra and melanoma for years before this, indicating that studies published as early as 2011 suggested that the erectile dysfunction drug may promote melanoma cell invasion. Another study published in the Journal of Cell Biochemistry in 2012 also found that PDE5 inhibitors like Viagra could exacerbate melanoma development.

It is ultimately expected that Pfizer may face hundreds, if not thousands, of complaints brought by men throughout the U.S. as Viagra melanoma lawyers continue to review and file additional lawsuits.

The U.S. JPML is likely to hear oral arguments on the motion to establish a Viagra MDL during an upcoming hearing session in Santa Barbara, California, which is scheduled for March 31, 2016.