Susan (00:06):
Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Tort Talk Thursday, as always here with Joe Fantini of Rosen Injury Lawyers. Joe, thanks so much for taking time to connect with me.
Joe (00:15):
Thanks for having me, Susan. Always love to get together and talk about the latest developments in the world of mass torts.
Susan (00:21):
Yeah. Speaking of latest developments, one of the litigations that I’m interested, if there’s anything happened coming in January would be Depo-Provera. I know that’s on a lot of people’s radar, so tell us what’s new there.
Joe (00:31):
Depo-Provera is going to be the mass tort probably most talked about in 2025. We saw a lot of interest towards the end of 2024 when a study came out establishing a correlation between Depo-Provera and an increased likelihood of a rare brain tumor. We filed the motion for consolidation was just heard before the JPML at the end of January, and the parties actually agreed that we should have a mass tort and it should be consolidated. So Pfizer, the manufacturer, agreed, they’re arguing the case should go to federal court in New York. The plaintiffs wan’t it in federal court in California, where most of the cases are pending. I’m predicting it will end out over in the northern district of California where we’ve had some really good MDLs like Roundup, but we expect a ruling probably by the end of the first week of February, and then that litigation will be off and running.
Susan (01:22):
Great. And I know you hit on and talked a little bit about the Maryland sex abuse cases before. Has anything transpired there that you can provide updates on?
Joe (01:30):
Yeah, so we got a really good ruling recently here. What was going on in Maryland, just like a couple other states we’ve seen, they tried to abolish the statute of limitations for minors who were abused to let them come forward and assert claims. This all started after there was a horrible study that came out, saw rampant abuse by the Baltimore Archdiocese, and then there was a law that was put in place that repealed the statute of limitations. Just recently this week in the beginning of February, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of that law, so that means that these claims are able to go forward and these victims can get some help without having to worry about that statute of limitations defense,
Susan (02:14):
And thanks for providing the update there. Toxic baby food, I know that one of the trials has been pushed back to the summer. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Joe (02:22):
Toxic baby food is another really hot mass tort. We’re looking for a lot of momentum in 2025. What’s going on there is in state court in California, the first trial was to kick off in January. That got postponed to the summer. It’s supposed to go in July. Meanwhile, in the MDL, we have about a hundred cases pending, and we’ve gotten to a really crucial point in the litigation. It’s been briefed up on defendant’s motion to dismiss. The responses have been filed. We’re going to have an oral argument. I expect a ruling, hopefully by the end of the first quarter in 2025, that litigation likely to survive most of the claims. Meanwhile, we’re working together with the defendants on the short form complaint, which tells me the judge is inclined to let most of these claims move forward. We’ll have a lot of excitement about that case in 2025.
Susan (03:10):
Yeah, so you said that’s towards the end of the first quarter?
Joe (03:13):
Yep. That’s when we’re looking for the ruling on the motion to dismiss and we feel 80 90% of the claims will move forward.
Susan (03:19):
Good. Okay. And then lastly, wanted to understand where things are as it relates to J and J and the bankruptcy.
Joe (03:27):
So J and J, we have this third bankruptcy petition pending that’s been going on for a couple months. J and J said they have this threshold of the majority of claimants that want to move forward with the bankruptcy. Recently, we’ve heard from all sort of objectors to this bankruptcy plan. There’s a group of plaintiffs, the Department of Justice, the US government, other entities of the government, Medicare, Medicaid, they’re opposing and all submitted objections saying that this bankruptcy is basically a sham and isn’t permitted under the code. So what’s going on now is the trial’s going to kick off on February 18th. It’s likely to last about a week or so, and then we’ll have a ruling about whether this bankruptcy plan can move forward or if it gets denied like the previously two denied plans, and then we’re back into the MDL and state court trying to resolve these cases where they should be. A lot of attention towards this trial. It’s going to have huge ramifications, not just on the talc litigation, but mass torts overall going forward.
Susan (04:27):
Yeah. I know you’ll provide us all the updates after the trial and what was the outcome there. Um, Joe, as always, grateful for you to take time out of your week to share the latest and greatest on these litigations.
Joe (04:37):
Thanks for having me, Susan.
Susan (04:39):
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