Lawsuits Over Stop-Smoking Drug Chantix Shifted to Alabama Federal Court

Plaintiffs who have filed federal lawsuits claiming they were injured or killed while trying to kick their smoking habit by using the cessation drug Chantix will have their day in court in Alabama, a federal consolidation panel has ruled.

The United States Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said a total of 37 cases filed in federal courthouses across the country will be consolidated in the Northern District of Alabama for pre-trial rulings. The cases will be assigned there to Judge Inge P. Johnson, according to the panel’s transfer order, issued on Oct. 1.

Pfizer, the maker of Chantix, has been sued by and on behalf of users who say they have experienced suicidal behavior and thoughts and other serious side effects while taking the stop-smoking drug. Among the cases is one brought by relatives of Texas musician Carter Albrecht, who died on September 3, 2007.

Albrecht, a well-known Dallas musician and member of Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, was fatally shot by a neighbor after the guitarist started banging on the windows of the neighbor’s house in the middle of the night. Albrecht’s relatives blamed his unusual, aggressive behavior that night on Chantix. His case became a high-profile example of the various health problems associated with Chantix use.

FDA Orders Stronger Warnings

Prompted by dozens of reports of adverse events and deaths in Chantix users, the Food and Drug Administration recently ordered Pfizer and the makers of other smoking cessation drugs to carry prominent warnings “Black Box” warnings on their labeling about the risks of suicidal thoughts, depression, and aggressive behavior.

Consolidation Request Granted

In cases where many federal lawsuits are filed by individual plaintiffs in numerous jurisdictions based on similar allegations against a common defendant, the courts often consolidate the cases into a multidistrict litigation. Once consolidated, the cases are heard by the same judge in order to avoid inconsistent pretrial rulings, repeat discovery on issues common to all cases, and to serve the convenience of the parties, the witnesses and the courts.

Plaintiffs in the Chantix litigation had asked the panel to assign the cases to an MDL in various jurisdictions, including the Northern District of Alabama, the Northern District of Georgia, and the District of Minnesota. The defendant, Pfizer, wanted the cases consolidated in the Southern District of New York.

The cases in the Chantix MDL were filed in the Western District of Louisiana, the District of Minnesota, the Eastern District of Missouri, the Western District of Tennessee, the Northern District of Alabama, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Northern District of Georgia, the Western District of Kentucky, the Middle District of Louisiana, the District of South Carolina, the Southern District of Alabama, the Southern District of Illinois, the Southern District of Indiana, the Eastern District of Kentucky, the District of Nebraska, and the Eastern District of Tennessee.

In the end, the consolidation panel determined the Alabama court was the best fit, given a number of factors.

“Northern District of Alabama will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation,” the panel said in its order.

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