SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its affiliated companies, and the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee appointed by a federal judge to coordinate litigation involving Pradaxa in In Re Pradaxa (Dabigatran Etexilate) Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2385, today negotiated a settlement program to resolve the claims of approximately 4,000 Pradaxa users who claimed to have been injured by the drug.
Pradaxa, an anticoagulant prescribed to lower stroke risk among those suffering from a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation, was approved for use in the United States by the FDA in October, 2010. Approximately 1,600 individuals have filed lawsuits in state and federal courts in the United States, alleging they suffered bleeding events caused by Pradaxa. In August 2012, the federal court claims were consolidated in a multi-district litigation before Hon. David. R. Herndon. Likewise, consolidated state proceedings exist in Connecticut, California, Delaware and Missouri. Lawyers across these different jurisdictions worked cooperatively together to litigate the case.
Roger Denton, of St. Louis, Missouri, Tor Hoerman of Chicago, Illinois, Seth Katz, of Denver, Colorado, Michael London of New York, New York, and Mikal Watts, of San Antonio, Texas, served as Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.
The company will pay $650 million to fund the payments called for in today’s settlement.
Mikal Watts, appointed by Chief Judge Herndon as Co-Lead counsel for all the Plaintiffs, and also a member of the 27-lawyer Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, said, “We are pleased that today’s settlement will bring justice and financial assistance to those hurt while taking Pradaxa. We are proud of the settlement we have achieved, congratulate the company on doing the right thing, and look forward to distributing these funds to our clients as expeditiously as possible.”
The trial lawyers of Watts Guerra LLP have led the Pradaxa litigation from start to finish, filing the first federal injury and death cases in the country, moving to consolidate the federal litigation, and leading the way to resolution for all affected parties. In addition to resolving the litigation for the entire pool of plaintiffs, Watts’ firm represents the largest number of Pradaxa injury and wrongful death claimants in the United States.
Mikal Watts, Ryan Thompson, and the pharmaceutical litigation team of Watts Guerra LLP have handled hundreds of thousands of mass action claims across the United States, and have won some of the most significant legal victories in American history.
Devoted to protecting consumers from dangerous and defective products, Mikal C. Watts has led many coordinated product liability litigations. Watts has served in multiple national litigation leadership positions and tried many initial cases for major pharmaceutical and products liability litigations. Some of his most notable legal successes include:
- The coordination of hundreds of cases against Firestone and Ford for injuries caused by Firestone Wilderness AT tire failures, which led Ford Explorers to rollover, including a record settlement amount and public apologies from both Ford and Firestone in Donna Bailey v. Ford & Firestone;
- The first plaintiffs’ verdict in the country involving faulty hip implants manufactured by Sulzer Orthopedics in Helen Rupp and Bernard Rupp v. Sulzer Orthopedics, Inc., Cause No. 01-60581-00-0-4, In the County Court at Law Number 4, Nueces County, Texas;
- The first plaintiff’s verdict in the country involving the drug Rezulin in Sanchez, Margarita "Margie," Sanchez, et al v. Parke-Davis, et al, Case No. 00-06523-00-0-F, In the 214th District Court, Nueces County, Texas;
- The first verdict in the country involving defects in the roof of Ford’s 2000-vintage F-series pick-up truck in Mario A. Galvan Castro v. Ford Motor Company, et al, Cause No. 2002-04-001555-C, In the 197th Judicial District Court, Cameron County, Texas.
- Served as Lead Counsel in In Re: Stand ‘N Seal Litigation, MDL 1804 (Atlanta, Georgia);
- Served as Liaison Counsel in In Re: Silica Products Liability Litigation, MDL 1553 (Corpus Christi, Texas);
- Hired by the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in In Re: Levaquin Product Liability Litigation, MDL 1943, to try the first Levaquin bellwether case in the country and obtain the first and only Plaintiff’s verdict in John Schedin v. Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Civil No. 08-5743 (JRT), In the United States District Court, District of Minnesota;
- Served as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in MDL 1873, In re: FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, participating in the trial of four separate bellwether cases and one appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
