MDL Judge Appoints Steering Committees After Receiving More Than 100 Applications

NEW ORLEANS - The judge overseeing the Vioxx Products Liability MDL has issued an order appointing counsel for both the plaintiffs and defense steering committees. In Re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 1657 (E.D. La.).

Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana entered the separate orders April 8, naming 12 members to the plaintiffs' steering committee and five members to the defense group.

'The appointment of the PSC is of a personal nature,' Judge Fallon commented in his Pretrial Order No. 6. 'Accordingly, the above appointees cannot be substituted by other …