While you can see the information that was to be addressed online, here are a few items that may be of interest:
There currently are pendig 1811 cases in the MDL, with another 290 in the process of being trasferred to Judge Fallon's Cort.
There are 200 cases pending in state courts other than New Jersey and California. In New Jersey, the docket dwarfs any other, with more than 2400 cases pending there. There are 250 cases in California Corts. There are pending 148 class actions.
Judge Fallon noted that the caseload in the MDL would double within the next six months.
There are currently pending more than 380 cases where a Motion for Remand has been filed.
Currently the trial docket shapes up this way: Trial number 2 is set for 9/1205 in NJ State Court. The next trial after that is October 24, 2005. The first MDL trial is 11/28, and trial #4 is in a Texas state Court begining in March of 2006.
The Judge informed counsel that he wants to set cases for trial in February, March, and April of 2006. He envisions a trial on different injuries - MI, Stroke, etc.
The paper production is huge. Currently there have been one million pages produced, with another nine million pages set to be produced within the next month. The FDA informs that it will be producing nearly 100,000 pages soon.
An interesting discussion regarding tolling agreement-filed cases: Merck's attorney indicated that a number of cases seeking protection under the T.A. were "sloppily filed." (His words in open court). My question is this: With the stakes so high, who would do this? Does the counsel who takes a shortcut think Merck and its counsel would not see the shoddy work early on? Does this counsel think he or she has an easy road now?
More tomorrow.
