Federal Court Judge Keenan Wants Two More Fosamax – ONJ Bellwether Cases To Go To Jury Verdict After This Trial
(Posted by Tom Lamb at DrugInjuryWatch.com)
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UPDATE: "Merck Wins Another Federal Bellwether Trial Regarding FOSAMAX(R) (alendronate sodium)" (10/3/11, Merck Press Release)
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UPDATE: On August 30, 2011 U.S. District Judge John Keenan dismissed plaintiff Linda Secrest's claims for failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraudulent concealment, and punitive damages, allowing only a design defect claim to stand for trial.
See: "Judge Again Trims Claims for Trial in Fosamax Suit", New York Law Journal (9/1/11)
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The federal court Fosamax MDL Secrest v. Merck trial will start on September 7, 2011; it had been scheduled to begin on March 14, 2011 but was postponed due to illness.
This Secrest case if one of the hundreds of federal court lawsuits that are combined in In Re Fosamax Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1789, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
It is anticipated that this Secrest Fosamax trial, which concerns bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) as the alleged drug injury, or side effect, will take several weeks and a jury verdict can be expected in late September or early October 2011.
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On February 4, 2011 Judge John F. Keenan, presiding over the federal court Fosamax multi-district litigation (MDL) issued an order calling for two additional "bellwether", or test, cases involving the jaw condition ONJ to go to trial after the Secrest verdict.
The first Fosamax trial in this federal court MDL, Boles v. Merck, started in August 2009. It initially resulted in a mistrial, which was followed by a second trial of the Boles case that ended with an $8 million verdict for the plaintiff. This jury verdict amount was later reduced to $1.5 million by Judge Keenan, who gave the plaintiff a choice to accept the lesser amount or have a new trial on the damages aspect of her case. It is our understanding that Mrs. Boles and her attorneys decided on the new trial, which has not happened, yet.
We will monitor the Secrest Fosamax trial and report this next MDL jury verdict as soon as it becomes available.
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