The first bellwether trial in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) against the makers of the popular cholesterol drug Lipitor is set for the fall of 2015.

Bellwether trials are used as a measuring stick for all parties involved in the litigation to determine how the rest of the claims could play out in the courtroom. Though these bellwether trials are not legally binding on future lawsuits, they do help to examine how certain testimony and pieces of evidence may be seen by juries and courts in similar cases. The Lipitor bellwether trials could also play a role in a settlement agreement between plaintiffs and the defendant.

Lipitor Bellwether Trials

It has been reported that Colorado plaintiff Wilma D. will be the first in a number of “bellwether” trials in the Lipitor MDL. Wilma and her fellow plaintiffs hold similar claims against Pfizer, the makers of Lipitor, of type-2 diabetes side effects as a result of taking the drug Lipitor. Wilma was diagnosed with type-2 diabetes while taking Lipitor; Wilma’s case is scheduled for trial on November 4 of this year.

According to her Lipitor lawsuit, Wilma described herself as “very healthy,” and was prescribed Lipitor by her doctor to “decrease her risk of developing cardiovascular disease.” The Lipitor lawsuit she filed against Pfizer alleges that she developed type-2 diabetes as a result of taking Lipitor, and that the prescription “left her with an increased risk of heart disease and other health complications.”

Wilma’s Lipitor type-2 diabetes lawsuit is just one of more than 2,000 Lipitor lawsuits against Pfizer that have been consolidated before by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in the District of South Carolina as a multidistrict litigation (MDL). Each Lipitor lawsuit contains similar allegations that Pfizer failed to warn Lipitor users of the link between type-2 diabetes and the cholesterol drug. An MDL serves to eliminate duplicative discovery into common issues, avoid conflicting rulings from different judges and to accommodate the parties, witnesses and the courts.

Judge Permits Supplemental Expert Reports

After the generic and case specific discovery, litigants are now working on expert witness discovery, with challenges to the admissibility of some testimony.

As of May 2015, Judge Gergel has decided to permit plaintiffs in the Lipitor MDL to file a rebuttal report from two of the expert witnesses attacked by Pfizer, even though the parties previously agreed to not allow rebuttal reports.

The Court issued Case Management Order No. 34 on May 4, which allows plaintiffs to serve supplemental expert reports and amends the scheduling order, allowing Pfizer to issue their own supplemental reports after deposition of the new submissions on May 25 and July 10, 2015, following which plaintiffs will be able to take depositions of each of these experts between June 15 and July 10, 2015.

This case management order stems from the criticism of the analyses and statistical methodologies that Pfizer’s expert witnesses have voiced over the testimony of two expert witnesses for the plaintiffs. This expert witness testimony, given by Dr. Nicholas Jewell and Dr. Martin Wells, supports the link between Lipitor and type-2 diabetes for women.

Attorneys for Pfizer have argued about the admissibility of this expert testimony and therefore Plaintiffs sought to file supplemental expert reports to address the criticism.

Currently, jury selection is still slated to begin on Nov. 3, 2015, with a second Lipitor bellwether trial set to begin in early 2016.

If you or a loved one have taken the cholesterol medication Lipitor and have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes, you may be entitled to compensation for medical bills and other damages.