Eli Lilly Co. recently scored its third win in a court case regarding whether or not the current label on the popular antidepressant Cymbalta is sufficient to warn patients and doctors about possible severe withdrawal symptoms.

According to experts, this win may have given the pharmaceutical giant an edge in an upcoming legal battle regarding possible consolidation of dozens of similar Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits.

A Virginia federal jury dismissed the claims of plaintiffs Gilda H. and Janine A., making this case the third Cymbalta antidepressant withdrawal lawsuit win for Eli Lilly in a row. The first two wins happened in California federal court last month.

Some of the Cymbalta plaintiffs are filing an appeal in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

According to reports, the Virginia jury found that Cymbalta’s current drug label featured sufficient warnings to alert doctors and other medical professionals regarding potential Cymbalta side effects such as antidepressant discontinuation syndrome.

Plaintiffs had alleged that the label did not sufficiently warn against withdrawal symptoms including brain zaps, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and vertigo.

Plaintiffs Propose Cymbalta MDL

Eli Lilly’s recent success in defending Cymbalta withdrawal claims before various federal judges and juries will likely contribute to the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s forthcoming decision on whether or not to consolidate 44 Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits. The JPML has scheduled a hearing to consider this petition for consolidation on Oct. 1.

This is not the first time plaintiffs have sought to consolidate these Cymbalta withdrawal side effects lawsuits. In August 2014, plaintiffs submitted a motion to consolidate 28 Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits in a California federal court. The JPML rejected that bid in December of the same year.

Not to be deterred, the plaintiffs filed a second motion for consolidation earlier this year in July and asked for the cases to be centralized in an Indiana federal court, as Eli Lilly is headquartered in that state. There are also quite a few Cymbatla withdrawal lawsuits already pending trial in Indiana federal court, making the location ideal for an MDL.

Eli Lilly has submitted a motion to break up these suits with the goal of transferring them back to each of the plaintiffs’ state courts. The plaintiffs seeking a Cymbalta MDL argue that their cases are all on track for discovery on roughly about the same schedule and that consolidation of these cases will allow for more timely and thorough discovery on key issues common to these Cymbalta antidepressant withdrawal claims.

While the JPML has not decided anything yet, these recent court wins for Eli Lilly do not bode well for the future of the proposed Cymbalta MDL.