MCL Status for New Jersey Abilify Litigation

MCL Status for New Jersey Abilify Litigation

Introduction

For the ease of management, the New Jersey Supreme Court has granted a Multicounty litigation (MCL) status to Abilify lawsuits filed against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc. The court transferred 42 pending cases filed originally in various Garden State counties to this multicounty litigation before Judge Nelson C. Johnson of the Atlantic County Superior Court. The request for MCL status was filed in January, viewed to be beneficial to all sides as it would provide a fair and more convenient, cost-effective process.

Over 800 Abilify lawsuits are now a part of the centralized Abilify litigation: MDL No. 2734 (In Re: Abilify Compulsive Behavior Products Liability Litigation) formed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, overseen by U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers.  Plaintiffs alleged that the defendants failed to warn the consumers and the medical community about the gambling and other compulsive behavior risks associated with Abilify.

On May 4, a global settlement was announced by Judge Rodgers and all others cases have been put on hold for 120 days while the parties attempt to work out the settlement details.