The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) has ordered to have 55 Invokana lawsuits centralized in federal court in New Jersey.

These Invokana lawsuits centralized in New Jersey allege that Johnson and Johnson’s unit, Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. failed to adequately warn consumers about the risks associated with the use of its diabetes drug Invokana.

The lawsuits also allege that the company failed to adequately test its product before releasing it to market.

The JPML had the Invokana lawsuits centralized after finding that the pending lawsuits against Janssen involved common questions of fact.

By consolidating them in one court under one judge, duplicative discovery could be eliminated, inconsistent pretrial rulings could be avoided and resources of the plaintiffs, defendants, Council and judiciary could be conserved.

“The actions share factual questions arising from allegations that taking Invokana or Invokamet may result in patients suffering. Injuries, including diabetic acidosis and kidney damage,” the panel stated. “The actions thus implicate numerous common issues concerning, manufacture, testing, regulatory history, promotion, and labeling of the drugs.”

The JPML also stated in the court order that since Janssen is a New Jersey-based company, many witnesses relevant to the trial and many important documents were likely housed in the state.

The court order stated that “centralization of these cases will serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.”

In addition to their decision for having the Invokana lawsuits centralized, the JPML decided against including other diabetes drugs in the same classes Invokana within the MDL transfer.

Drugs such as Jardiance and Farxiga, both manufactured by other companies, would not be included in the MDL.

The JPML stated that including other companies as defendants, who are also competitors of Janssen, in the MDL “may unnecessarily complicate case management, due to the need to protect trade secret and confidential information.”

“In addition, a multi-defendant MDL may prolong pretrial proceedings, because of, inter alia, the possible need for separate discovery and motion tracks, as well as the need for additional bellwether trials,” the panel concluded.

The recent order by the JPML to have Invokana lawsuits centralized stated that 18 lawsuits pending in other federal courts will be transferred to New Jersey federal court.

At the time of the transfer, 37 actions were already pending in New Jersey. The new actions will be transferred from California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Minnesota.

Judge Brian R. Martinotti will be the presiding judge in the Invokana MDL. The panel referred to judge Martinotti as “an able and experienced jurist who has not had the opportunity to preside over an MDL.”

The panel also noted “Judge Martinotti is already presiding over the constituent and tag-along actions pending in the district, and we are confident that he will steer this litigation on a prudent course.”

In September, a group of plaintiffs filed the motion asking the JPML to consider consolidating the Invokana litigation in New Jersey, stating the actions “arise out of the same or similar nucleus of operative facts, arise out of the same or similar alleged wrongful conduct, will involved the resolution of the same or similar questions of fact and law, and discovery will be substantially similar and will not involve the same documents and witnesses.”

In response, Janssen issued a brief in October saying they agreed that having the Invokana lawsuits centralized in New Jersey would be appropriate.

The plaintiffs in the Invokana lawsuits have alleged that the diabetes drug caused kidney damage as well as diabetic ketoacidosis, and although the company allegedly knew about these associations, it failed to warn consumers and the medical community about these risks.