MDL Docket Sought for N.Y. Prisoners’ ‘Medications with Abuse Potential’ Lawsuits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has been asked to create an MDL docket for actions against medical providers employed by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision for alleged 8th Amendment violations related to discontinuations or denials of “medications with abuse potential” (MWAP).

The prisoner plaintiffs say the 53 actions involve common questions about the liability of the department’s providers for allegedly “following unconstitutional policies and practices that discontinued effective medical treatment without individualized assessments of patient need.”

Plaintiffs seek transfer of pending and future actions to the U.S. District Court for …