Miss. Supreme Court Rejects Permissive Joinder, Orders 3 Cases Severed

OXFORD, Miss. - The Mississippi Supreme Court has ordered three OxyContin cases severed and filed in separate venues after finding that two plaintiffs had no connection with at least one named defendant. Purdue Pharma v. Heffner,, No. 2003-Ia-01287-SCT. (Miss. Sup.).

The high court cited its recent holding in Janssen Pharmaceutica, Inc. v. Armond (866 So.2d 1092 [Miss. 2004]), in which it overturned a lower court order allowing joinder and severed 56 Propulsid cases it said arose from separate transactions.

The court held then that joinder is allowed only if the parties satisfy two requirements: a right to relief is asserted …