| CASE CAPTION |
In re Avandia Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litig. |
| COURT |
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania |
| CASE NUMBER |
2:07-md-01871-CMR |
| JUDGE |
Honorable Cynthia M. Rufe |
| PLAINTIFFS |
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., Group Health, Life and Disability Plan of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc., and UFCW Local 1776 and Participating Employers Health and Welfare Fund |
| DEFENDANTS |
GlaxoSmithKline, LLC f/k/a SmithKline Beecham Corporation d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline |
| CLASS PERIOD |
May 25, 1999 through August 14, 2007 |
This class action involves Plaintiffs, third-party payors (“TPPs”) that paid for the diabetes drug, Avandia, on behalf of their members. Plaintiffs bring RICO claims alleging GSK worked with numerous independent partners to convince the healthcare marketplace that Avandia lowered cardiovascular risk when, in fact, it increased such risk. The District Court denied GSK’s motion to dismiss on causation and injury grounds, which the Third Circuit affirmed in 2015. Following remand, GSK again moved to dismiss Plaintiffs’ claims, and the District Court granted its motion. Plaintiffs subsequently appealed the decision, and the Third Circuit issued a precedential opinion, siding with Plaintiffs in 2019.
On November 7, 2022, KTMC’s Joseph H. Meltzer was named to the TPP Executive Committee. Between 2021 and 2023, the parties conducted extensive fact and expert discovery, which is now closed. Plaintiffs have moved for class certification and GSK has moved for summary judgment. Both motions, as well as numerous Daubert challenges, are fully briefed and before the Court.