Calif. Judge Stays Lipitor Case Pending JPML’s Decision to Transfer to MDL

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge has stayed a Lipitor type 2 diabetes case pending the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s review of plaintiffs’ opposition of its transfer of the action to the Lipitor multidistrict litigation.

On April 30, Judge Michael J. Seng of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California explained that a stay pending MDL transfer will not prejudice the plaintiffs and will “achieve the judicial economies that underlie the MDL statute."

In September 2013, Maria Alanis and four co-plaintiffs sued Pfizer and distributor McKesson in the Fresno County Superior Court, alleging they developed …