Lawsuits Against Bayer Over Essure Birth Control Device Injuries To Be Coordinated Before A Single Judge Following Argument by Grant & Eisenhofer

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A California judge has ordered that all California product liability lawsuits brought against Bayer Corporation and several subsidiaries involving its Essure birth control device will be coordinated before a single judge in Alameda County Superior Court going forward. The ruling will facilitate efficient adjudication in the California court system and coordinate the efforts on behalf of all of the women injured by Bayer's device.

Prior to Judge Winifred Y. Smith's order granting the plaintiffs' petition, there were some 55 actions brought throughout California on behalf of some 900 women who alleged that they sustained injuries from Essure. The suits contend that the Bayer product, an FDA-approved medical device that has been on the market since 2002, caused a number of problems and physical injuries in thousands of women who have had the device implanted. The FDA announced in February 2016 that the device will require a black box warning indicating extreme risks and possible serious injuries associated with its usage, and has instructed Bayer to engage in further post market study of the device's safety.

Plaintiffs' counsel Elizabeth Graham of Grant & Eisenhofer and Fidelma Fitzpatrick of Motley Rice argued for the coordination of all state court actions in the Essure litigation on Sept. 30 before Judge Smith in the Superior Court of California in Alameda County.

Kim Dougherty of Janet, Jenner & Suggs and Erin Copeland of Fibich, Leebron, Copeland, Briggs & Josephson, and Ed Wallace of Wexler Wallace also lead in the representing of plaintiffs in the litigation. Also handling the case for Grant & Eisenhofer is Thomas Ayala.

Ms. Graham, who leads Grant & Eisenhofer's complex pharmaceutical and medical device litigation practice, noted that having the Essure matters before a single judge as coordinated proceedings will greatly assist the thousands of women injured by Essure, enabling them to essentially litigate their claims in one courtroom.

"This is a very favorable development for these injured women. Having these cases coordinated before a single judge will avoid inconsistent rulings and allow these women to prosecute their claims in a cohesive and unified manner," said Ms. Graham. "Coordinated proceedings in the Essure litigation will enable counsel to fast-track the case, streamline discovery; and the JCCP coordination will hopefully bring a swifter judicial remedy to all the women who were injured by Bayer's Essure procedure."

The case is styled as: Essure Product Cases and Coordinated Actions, Judicial Council Coordination Proceeding No. 4887.

About Grant & Eisenhofer

Grant & Eisenhofer is one of the top litigation and arbitration firms in the United States. The Firm's complex pharmaceutical and medical device litigation group represents plaintiffs who have been significantly injured by defective drugs or devices.

Attorneys at G&E have an unparalleled record of success against major health care product and service companies. Assisting these lawyers are physicians, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians, as well as other medical consultants and experts. G&E has represented injured plaintiffs, whistleblowers, federal and state governments, and defrauded investors in some of the largest and most successful actions against pharmaceutical companies in recent years.

G&E is also renowned for representing institutional investors from across the globe in U.S. and international securities class actions, derivative lawsuits, antitrust suits, bankruptcy litigation and other complex financial litigation matters.

The Firm has more than 60 attorneys, with offices in Wilmington, New York and Chicago, and an international docket of high-profile cases. G&E has recovered more than $28 billion in the last 10 years and has twice been cited by RiskMetrics for securing the highest average investor recovery in securities class actions. G&E has been named one of the country's top plaintiffs' law firms by The National Law Journal for the past 13 years, and was named one of the nation's "Most Feared Plaintiffs Firms" by Law360 every year since the inception of the list.

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Contact:
Allan Ripp 212-262-7477 [email protected]
Elise Martin 302-622-7004 [email protected]

SOURCE Grant & Eisenhofer

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