JPML Refuses to Create Separate MDL Docket for Opioid-Addicted Infants

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has refused to create a separate coordinated docket for class actions filed against drug makers by families of infants born addicted to opioids, ruling that centralization of the litigation “is not necessary.”

In a Dec. 6 order, the panel said that “few efficiencies will be gained” by creating a new MDL docket for lawsuits filed on behalf of opioid- addicted infants who have been diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

“Discovery regarding the marketing, manufacture, distribution and diversion of prescription opiates in plaintiffs’ cases will substantially overlap with that being …