Case Information
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Case: 1:22-cv-00071 Document #: 26 Filed: 04/18/22 Page 1 of 3 PageID #:407 Case MDL No. 3026 Document 119 Filed 04/08/22 Page 1 of 3
Presiding Judge: Rebecca R. Pallmeyer Magistrate Judge: Maria Valdez Filed: 04/18/2022 Lead case Number: 22-cv-71 PH
UNITED STATES JUDICIAL PANEL on MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION
IN RE: ABBOTT LABORATORIES, ET AL., PRETERM INFANT NUTRITION PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION
TRANSFER ORDER
Before the Panel: Defendants Abbott Laboratories and Abbott Laboratories, Inc. move under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 to centralize this litigation in the District of Connecticut. Defendants Mead Johnson &; Company, LLC, and Mead Johnson Nutrition Company support the motion. All responding parties agree that centralization is appropriate for these cases in which plaintiffs contend that cow's milk-based preterm infant formula causes necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in babies born prematurely. Responding plaintiffs divide their support among several transferee districts: the District of the District of Columbia, the Northern District of Illinois, the Eastern District of Louisiana, the Middle District of Louisiana, the Western District of Missouri and the District of Nevada. Defendants' motion includes sixteen actions pending in seven districts, as listed on Schedule A, as well as twenty potentially-related actions in eight districts. [1]
After considering the argument of counsel, we find that centralization of these actions in the Northern District of Illinois will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation. All actions can be expected to share factual questions arising from allegations that cow's milk-based infant formula products marketed under the Similac and Enfamil brand names have a higher propensity to cause necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in infants born prematurely than other, allegedly safer alternatives. Although some cases are slightly advanced, we are of the opinion that the parties can obtain significant efficiencies by placing all actions before a single judge. Centralization offers substantial opportunity to streamline pretrial proceedings; reduce duplicative discovery and conflicting pretrial obligations; prevent inconsistent rulings on common Daubert challenges and summary judgment motions; and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel and the judiciary.
We are persuaded that the Northern District of Illinois is the appropriate transferee district for these cases. More cases are pending in this district than in any other district, and the Abbott defendants are based in the district. By selecting Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, we are selecting a
*2 Case: 1:22-cv-00071 Document #: 26 Filed: 04/18/22 Page 2 of 3 PageID #:408 Case MDL No. 3026 Document 119 Filed 04/08/22 Page 2 of 3 seasoned jurist who is well-versed in the complexities of multidistrict litigation. We are confident that Judge Pallmeyer will steer this litigation on a prudent course to resolution.
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the actions listed on Schedule A and pending outside the Northern District of Illinois are transferred to the Northern District of Illinois and, with the consent of that court, assigned to the Honorable Rebecca R. Pallmeyer for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the actions pending there and listed on Schedule A.
PANEL ON MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION
Nathaniel M. Gorton David C. Norton Dale A. Kimball
Matthew F. Kennelly Roger T. Benitez Madeline C. Arleo
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Case: 1:22-cv-00071 Document #: 26 Filed: 04/18/22 Page 3 of 3 PageID #:409 Case MDL No. 3026 Document 119 Filed 04/08/22 Page 3 of 3
IN RE: ABBOTT LABORATORIES, ET AL., PRETERM INFANT NUTRITION PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION MDL No. 3026
SCHEDULE A
Central District of California
22c v1987 RICHARDSON v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 2:21-09932 22c v1989 DAVIS v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 5:21-00481 22c v1991 KELTON v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., C.A. No. 5:21-02145 22c v1994 LITTLES v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 5:21-02146 District of Connecticut 22c v1995 HUNTE, ET AL. v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., C.A. No. 3:20-01626 District of District of Columbia 22c v1996 GEORGE v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., C.A. No. 1:20-02537 Middle District of Florida 22c v1997 SANCHEZ JUAN v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 6:21-00502 Northern District of Florida 22c v1998 CRAWFORD v. MEAD JOHNSON &; COMPANY, ET AL., C.A. No. 1:21-00201 Northern District of Illinois HALL v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, C.A. No. 1:22-00071 RINEHART, ET AL. v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, ET AL., C.A. No. 1:22-00192 GSHWEND, ET AL. v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, ET AL., C.A. No. 1:22-00197 TAYLOR, ET AL. v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, ET AL., C.A. No. 1:22-00203 STUPER, ET AL. v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, ET AL., C.A. No. 1:22-00204 MAR v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, C.A. No. 1:22-00232 RHODES v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, C.A. No. 1:22-00239 Middle District of Louisiana 22c v2001 BROWN, ET AL. v. ABBOTT LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL., C.A. No. 3:21-00687
NOTES
The motion for centralization initially included a seventeenth action pending in the Southern District of Illinois that since has been dismissed. The twenty potentially-related actions, and any other related actions, are potential tag-along actions. See Panel Rules 1.1(h), 7.1 and 7.2.