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Drugs & Medical Devices

Will the first Topamax lawsuit be filed this week?


— March 13, 2011

Topamax lawyers are heavily advertising on the Internet regarding the link between Topamax and birth defects like cleft palates and cleft lips.  To the best of my knowledge, no Topamax attorney has yet filed a Topamax birth defect lawsuit. 

One of the reasons why I suspect that Topamax litigation will commence so soon after Topamax was linked to birth defects is because of the rules of Multi-District Litigation.  (MDL)  Whenever a large number of drug lawsuits are filed across the country, they are eventually consolidated into an MDL.  That simply means that instead of all of the Topamax lawsuits being filed across the country, they’re initially filed in one court, so the same judge can make sure everything proceeds in an orderly fashion.  (Many people confuse class action lawsuits with MDL proceedings.  By and large, if the lawsuit involves a large number of people hurt by a drug like Topamax, it will be an MDL.  However, there may also be a Topamax class action.  If an when that happens, I’ll post about it here.)

When an MDL is created, the MDL judge appoints a steering committee.  The steering committee will consist of Topamax attorneys who (a) have a great deal of experience in drug litigation, and (b) have a large number of Topamax lawsuits of their own.  The first lawyer to file a Topamax lawsuit will be at an advantage when it comes to applying for a position on the Topamax steering committee.

I therefore suspect that someone will work to get a Topamax lawsuit filed this week.  I could be wrong, but I’d be very surprised if the first Topamax case isn’t filed this month.

If you’d like to know more about how an MDL works, or whether you’re eligible to bring a Topamax lawsuit on behalf of your child, feel free to e-mail me using the contact form.

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