Tepezza Lawyers Meet With MDL Judge To Review Status of Hearing Loss Lawsuits Today

Status conference comes as lawyers continue to prepare Tepezza hearing loss lawsuits for the first bellwether trial in April 2026.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Tepezza hearing loss lawsuits is holding a status conference today, at which lawyers will update the Court on progress preparing a group of bellwether cases for early trial dates that are expected to begin next year.

Horizon Therapeutics currently faces more than 200 lawsuits over Tepezza (teprotumumab-trbw), which was just approved in January 2020 as a new-generation biologic drug for treatment of thyroid eye disease. However, side effects of the medication have been linked to a risk of permanent and irreversible hearing damage, which plaintiffs now maintain the drug manufacturer knew or should have known about when the bulging eye treatment was first introduced.

Following reports of users experiencing hearing loss and other auditory problems, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that new Tepezza hearing damage warnings would be added to the drug label in July 2023, recommending that doctors closely monitor patients’ hearing before, during and after receiving the infusions.

Tepezza injury lawyers are now moving forward with lawsuits on behalf of former users, alleging that long-term hearing damage could have been avoided if Horizon had adequately researched the medication and disclosed the potential risks associated with the treatment earlier.

Given common questions of fact and law raised in complaints brought throughout the federal court system, a Tepezza hearing damage MDL (multidistrict litigation) was formed the same month the FDA updated the warning label, centralizing the litigation before U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in the Northern District of Illinois for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

To help manage the growing litigation and gauge how juries are likely to respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the claims, Judge Durkin has established a Tepezza “bellwether” program, where a group of four hearing damage lawsuits are being prepared for early trial dates. 

With preparations well underway for the first Tepezza bellwether trial, which is scheduled to begin on April 6, 2026, lawyers involved in the case will meet with Judge Durkin today for a status conference. 

April 2025 Tepezza Lawsuit Status Update

Tepezza lawyers representing both plaintiffs and the drug maker submitted a joint status report (PDF) on March 26, outlining many of the updates they intend to provide during the conference today.

The report indicates the parties will address the status of fact discovery, remaining deposition dates for Horizon Therapeutics’ corporate representatives, and other issues regarding verification of Horizon’s business records.  

The lawyers also indicate that they will ask Judge Durkin to conduct In Camera reviews of certain redacted documents, to determine their relevance to the litigation.

The parties are actively preparing a group of four Tepezza hearing damage lawsuits selected by the Court in February 2024, which were designed to be representative of a large number of claims brought by former users nationwide.

The first Tepezza bellwether trial is currently scheduled to begin on April 6, 2026, which will be followed by a second trial on June 1, a third starting on July 27 and the fourth set to start on September 21, 2026.

While the outcome of these early bellwether trials will not have any binding impact on other claims presented in the litigation, they are being closely watched, as the average Tepezza lawsuit payouts awarded by juries are likely to have a large impact on settlement negotiations.

If the parties fail to reach Tepezza hearing loss settlements or another resolution for the litigation following the bellwether trials, Judge Durkin may begin remanding individual cases to U.S. District Courts nationwide for separate trial dates in the coming years.