More Than 2500 Potential Claimants, However, "Opt-out" of This Serzone Settlement

United States District Court Judge Joseph R. Godwin, on September 2, 2005, gave final court approval to a $70 million settlement of Serzone claims involving involving various degrees of liver injury, including some death cases.  The underlying case is In Re: Serzone Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1477, No. 02-md-1477, S.D. W.Va.

The procedural history of the Serzone federal court MDL litigation is outlined in the first part of Judge Godwin’s Memorandum Opinion and Order Approving Settlement and Certifying the Settlement Class:

Pending before the court is the plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of class action settlement [Docket 209]. This litigation arises from allegations that Serzone, a drug used to treat depression, caused a range of physical and economic injuries among users and purchasers. On August 12, 2002, this court acquired jurisdiction over the Serzone litigation by transfer order of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The case developed in discovery for over a year, and settlement discussions began in mid-2003. On October 28, 2004, the plaintiffs moved for preliminary approval of a class action settlement, which the court granted on November 18, 2004. Upon completion of notice of the settlement and submission of written comments to the court in favor of and opposed to the settlement, the court held a final fairness hearing on June 29, 2005. Having considered the entire record of submissions in this matter and the oral presentations at the final fairness hearing, I FIND that the settlement class satisfies the requirements of Rule 23(a) and Rule 23(b)(3). Moreover, I FIND that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate. Accordingly, the plaintiffs’ motion for final approval of the class action settlement is GRANTED.

Significant for Bristol-Myers Squibb ("BMS") and its attorneys, however, is the fact that while 6,524 potential Serzone liver injury claims had been submitted timely to the Serzone Settlement Claims Administrator — 120 were received after the deadline — 2,536 potential Serzone claimants "opted-out" their Serzone claim — with 22 opt-out notices received after the deadline.  By operation of their opt-out notice filings, more than 2500 Serzone claimants have elected not to participate in the Serzone federal court MDL settlement.  Instead, those Serzone claimants are able to continue with their legal cases against BMS in various state courts around the U.S.  According to Judge Godwin’s September 2, 2005 Order, BMS has told Judge Godwin that most of the Serzone claimants who opted-out have weak claims, such that they fall into the so-called "Fund D claims" category.

For more information, visit the official web site of the federal court Serzone MDL class action settlement.

(Posted by: Tom Lamb)