Heparin Deaths

In our previous blogs, we discussed the filing of more than 150 Heparin wrongful death cases against Baxter in Cook County, Illinois. The Court has had many case management conferences including one where the first trial dates are set to begin in January of 2011. That is now little more than a year away.

The cases in Cook County, Illinois are supervised by the Honorable Judge Duncan-Brice. The judge has approved various pre-trial orders including a protective order designating documents produced during discovery as “confidential,” He has also allowed plaintiffs’ counsel to act as personal representatives of potential clients, solely for the purpose of obtaining relevant medical and pharmaceutical records. He has further ordered the defendants to disclose to plaintiff’s lead counsel all ongoing medical and scientific studies and identification of contaminated lots.

Despite the entry of the foregoing orders, there are still numerous items that the court and all parties have to consider, such as the litigation calendar for the consolidated cases, and the manner by which these cases will be tried. To date, the judge has not set a deadline for discovery, nor has the court ruled if exemplar plaintiff cases will be designated. These matters will be addressed in future court dates. Nevertheless, a trial date has been scheduled for January 17, 2011.

Cases involving the Heparin contamination have in addition been filed in the Federal District Court in Ohio (MDL Litigation). Discovery in both proceedings is being coordinated for efficiency. With over a million documents to review, that is a necessity. The Nolan Law Group was appointed lead counsel for plaintiffs in the consolidated state court cases and likewise serves as a member of the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee in the MDL litigation.

As a member of the Plaintiff’s Executive Committee, the Nolan Law Group is in charge of all document reviews relating to product distribution and identification. One responsibility of the said product identification subcommittee deals with the identification of Heparin product lots which are suspected of being contaminated, but have not been publicly acknowledged by Baxter. If proven, these newly identified contaminated products may not only extend the time frame of the contamination back to a much earlier date, but also expand the categories of contaminants in the tainted Heparin. These developments will surely make the plot even thicker!

More on these “product identification” issues in our coming blogs.

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Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.

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