Estate Planning News

Judicial Panel Assigns All Federal Vioxx Lawsuits to Louisiana Court

BERWYN, Pa A panel of federal judges has issued an order assigning a Louisiana judge to hear all pre-trial matters in federal lawsuits alleging damages caused by the now-withdrawn arthritis drug Vioxx, HarrisMartin Publishing is reporting.

Pre-trial activity for all Vioxx claims filed in federal courts throughout the country will be overseen by Judge Eldon E. Fallon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the legal publisher said.

HarrisMartin first reported this development Feb. 15 to readers of its national monthly report, Litigation Watch: Arthritis Drugs, which covers Vioxx litigation. At that time, sources in the Eastern District of Louisiana told HarrisMartin that they were anticipating a ruling consolidating the cases in their court.

The Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (JPML) issued the official transfer and consolidation order today from its headquarters in Washington, D.C., a little more than three weeks after a panel of seven federal judges held a hearing on the matter in Ft. Myers, Fla.

Last October, plaintiffs in a Vioxx personal injury case brought in the Eastern District of Louisiana were the first to file a motion to create a Vioxx multi-district litigation docket, or MDL. Vioxx manufacturer Merck & Co., which voluntarily withdrew the drug from worldwide markets on Sept. 30, 2004, also filed consolidation motions in numerous cases pending in federal courts.

During a hearing held Jan. 27 in Ft. Myers, attorneys representing plaintiffs in several of the more than 600 federal lawsuits that have been filed since the Vioxx withdrawal, argued that the cases should be transferred and consolidated before a single judge in Louisiana, Indiana, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania or Oklahoma, among other locations. Merck recommended that the panel consolidate the Vioxx claims in the District Court of Maryland, or federal courts in Indiana, Pennsylvania or Illinois.

HarrisMartin's Litigation Watch: Arthritis Drugs, which covers national developments in Vioxx and related arthritis drug litigation, is published monthly. The publication Web site, which can be accessed from http://www.harrismartin.com/, is updated daily with breaking litigation news. For more information call (800) 496-4319, or log onto http://www.harrismartin.com/.

Contact our Plano estate planning attorney now.

	Did You Know?
	A "Family Limited Partnership" can be used to own and manage your property In a similar manner to a Trust, but allowing additional tax planning techniques to be employed. Family Limited Partnerships are typically used for those who have large estates and thus have a need for specialized estate planning in order to minimize federal and state estate/death/inheritance taxes as well as provide elements of asset protection.