The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) last month announced its  decision to deny a motion to consolidate and centralize all the Cymbalta lawsuits filed in various federal courts.

However, this JPML decision does not dismiss the individual Cymbalta lawsuits and Cymbalta class action lawsuits, which similarly allege that severe withdrawal side effects are associated with the discontinued use of the Eli Lilly anti-depressant.

Eli Lilly and Co. faces 25 Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits filed by and on behalf of former Cymbalta users who allege the pharmaceutical giant failed to fully inform patients and the medical community of the risk of Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms and other psychological side effects associated with of this anti-depressant medication.

In the panel’s motion to deny the proposed Cymbalta MDL, the JPML found that there were too few Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits to warrant a federal MDL. Additionally, the JPML stated that the various Cymbalta lawsuits are at different stages of discovery, which the panel claims minimizes the benefits a centralized MDL would be able to provide to the plaintiffs and counsel involved in these Cymbalta lawsuits.

The motion to establish a Cymbalta MDL to centralize all Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits filed in the U.S. federal court system was proposed in August by a group of plaintiffs in order to prevent conflicting pretrial rulings in the various Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits. However, the JPML was not convinced that centralization was the best course of action for these cases.

According to the JPML’s motion to dismiss the proposed Cymbalta MDL, “Unquestionably, these actions share factual issues concerning Cymbalta’s development, marketing, labeling, and sale. Nevertheless, we are not convinced that centralization … is warranted in these circumstances.”

The JPML’s denial of the MDL was based on three distinct factors. First, the Cymbalta lawsuits are at different stages of the discovery process. Secondly, because some of the Cymbalta lawsuits had already completed their discovery, the panel saw a centralized MDL as unnecessary and extraneous. Finally, because all the Cymbalta withdrawal lawsuits were filed by two law firms, again the panel found that centralization would not provide the benefits that the majority of the plaintiffs did not already have.

Cymbalta Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome

In 2005, Eli Lilly conducted a Cymbalta drug study, which allegedly revealed that over 51 percent of Cymbalta users claimed to have experienced antidepressant discontinuation syndrome (ADS). Of those consumers who experienced ADS, up to 17 percent experienced more severe Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms.

The Eli Lilly study also reported that two weeks into conducting the study, none of the consumers’ withdrawal symptoms had been resolved themselves, as many of the consumers continued to experience severe Cymbalta withdrawal side effects.

Some Cymbalta withdrawal side effects drug consumers may experience include:

• Severe nausea
• Vomiting
• Dizziness, lightheadedness, vertigo
• Headaches
• Hot and cold flashes
• Mood swings, anxiety, irritability, hostility
• Nightmares
• Electric shock-like sensations in the brain
• Tingling, tickling, prickling, pricking, or burning sensations of the skin
• Tremors, shaking hands
• Visual disturbances

As a result of this Eli Lilly funded research and other Cymbalta side effect studies, many antidepressant users are pursuing Cymbalta lawsuits and may choose to join a Cymbalta withdrawal symptoms class action lawsuit in the future.