Hundreds of Accutane Lawsuits Get Booted

A state judge dismissed over 600 cases in the consolidated class action accusing Roche Laboratories Inc. and Hoffman-La Roche Inc. of failing to inform consumers that the drug Accutane carried a risk of inflammatory bowel disease, saying the plaintiffs had failed to respond to requests for discovery.

The Accutane lawsuits were dismissed without prejudice by Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Nelson Johnson. Judge Johnson issued an order in May requiring plaintiffs to respond to discovery requests. Over 7,200 cases were consolidated in Atlantic City and Roche was concerned about the merit of the claims.

“Roche has been concerned that a large number of plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit against Roche in Atlantic County have simply not responded to our court-ordered requests for information, and thus Roche is gratified that these cases of dubious merit have now been dismissed from the litigation,” a Roche representative said in a statement Friday.

The Accutane lawsuits claim that the anti-acne drug carries risks of inflammatory bowel disease that were not disclosed to consumers. “Bellwether” cases were filed in the matter. Courts utilize a bellwether approach when large numbers of plaintiffs are proceeding on the same theory or claim and there is no other feasible way for the courts to handle the enormous caseload.

Judge Johnson’s decision to dismiss Accutane lawsuits in October due to the two-year statute of limitations meant canceling trials that had been set for 2015. The next trial is scheduled in May 2015. Judge Johnson’s October decision dismissing the initial Accutane lawsuits filed by Dennis Nance, Gregory Luongo, Danielle Kays and Kristy Brecke, were the first New Jersey Accutane lawsuits dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.

Judge Johnson’s order contradicted the previous decisions by Judge Carol Higbee, who formerly managed the cases. Judge Higbee had ruled that 12 cases presented exceptions to the statute and allowed them to continue. Judge Johnson took over the Accutane litigation in September.

According to the statute of limitations, the plaintiffs were required to file their cases within two years of their original diagnosis of a disease linked to Accutane. According to the October decision from Judge Johnson, the four plaintiffs’ trials that were rescheduled waited too long to make their claims. Last February, in the multidistrict litigation in federal court, Roche defeated 40 Accutane lawsuits. In that case, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. ruled there was no legitimate reason for the plaintiffs to miss the court’s deadlines to name an expert who could testify that Accutane causes inflammatory bowel disease.

The plaintiffs are represented by David Buchanan and Michael Rosenberg of Seeger Weiss LLP.

The Accutane Inflammatory Bowel Disease Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Accutane Litigation, Case No. 271, in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic County.