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
Plaintiff: 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
Defendant: GlaxoSmithKline, LLC f/k/a SmithKline Beecham Corporation d/b/a GlaxoSmithKline
Class Period: January 1, 2005 through August 14, 2007
This class action involves 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 mislead the healthcare marketplace about the cardiovascular risks and benefits of Avandia. 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. Thereafter, Plaintiffs moved for class certification and GSK moved for summary judgment.
On May 22, 2025, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, certifying a class of TPPs who purchased Avandia between 2005 and 2007. GSK appealed the Court’s certification order to the Third Circuit, and GSK’s appeal is currently pending.