For the second time, the JPML has declined to consolidate the federal product liability cases involving pain pumps. In re Ambulatory Pain Pump-Chondrolysis Products Liability Litigation, J.P.M.L., MDL No. 2139 (4/14/10).

In the litigation, plaintiffs allege that they developed chondrolysis, i.e., damage to their joint cartilage, after pumps were used to directly send anesthetic into their shoulder joints following surgery.

In August, 2008 the Panel had denied the motion for centralization in MDL No. 1966, at at time the  docket involved a total of thirteen actions, as well as eighteen potential tag-along actions.  At that point, the panel noted that an indeterminate number of different pain pumps made by different manufacturers were at issue, as were different anesthetic drugs made by different pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, not all of the then-thirteen constituent actions involved pharmaceutical company defendants, and many defendants were sued only in a minority of those actions.

When the litigation grew to 102 actions in 26 districts, and 70 tag-alongs, the plaintiffs tried again. Most defendants opposed the renewed effort. But although the number of related actions had certainly grown, the Panel found that the issues that weighed against centralization in that earlier docket remain. An indeterminate number of different pain pumps made by different manufacturers are still at issue, as are different anesthetics made by different pharmaceutical companies. Most, if not all, defendants are named in only a minority of actions; and several defendants are named in but a handful of actions. Many actions involve no anesthetic manufacturers at all.

In the current litigation, individual issues of causation and liability continue to appear to  predominate, and remain likely to overwhelm any efficiencies that might be gained by centralization. Pain pumps come in different sizes and designs, with differing volume, duration, and flow capacities. The same anesthetic was not used in all surgeries. Plaintiffs have different medical histories (indeed, some have undergone more than one surgery involving a pain pump).

Third, said the Panel, the constituent actions are at widely varying procedural stages. In many, fact
discovery is either over or nearly over. The record showed that expert discovery is underway or has
been completed in a number of actions. It was also noted that while most plaintiffs supported the motion, others requested exclusion on the ground that their cases were too far advanced.

Thus, the Panel was not convinced that centralization would serve the convenience of the parties or promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation taken as a whole.