Judge Dismisses P&G Fixodent Class Action Lawsuit

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On April 9, a Florida federal judge dismissed the Fixodent multidistrict litigation (MDL) filed against Procter & Gamble Co., which alleges their Fixodent denture glue product causes neurological damages. This dismissal of this P&G Fixodent MDL came just one day after all parties involved in the litigation agreed that the barring of the plaintiffs’ expert testimony from the court proceedings nailed the coffin shut on this case.

U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga granted P&G’s unopposed motion to dismiss the Fixodent class action lawsuit, ruling the case fell apart when the judge excluded the plaintiffs’ expert testimony back in January, because the judge found the testimony scientifically unsound and unreliable.

“The court agrees with plaintiffs’ stipulation that the Jan. 28 order granting defendants’ motion to exclude all or part of the testimony of plaintiffs’ general causation expert witnesses … was case-dispositive,” Judge Altonaga wrote in her order dismissing the Fixodent class action lawsuit. “All of plaintiffs’ claims are predicated on proving an issue of general causation — namely, whether Fixodent can cause the claimed neurological injury.”

Earlier this year in January, Judge Altonaga reviewed the plaintiffs’ newly submitted evidence, which they argued supported their claims that the zinc found in Fixodent can cause neurological problems. After reviewing said evidence, the judge concluded the plaintiffs’ evidence relied too heavily on studies that allegedly cherry-picked data and employed flawed scientific methodologies. According to Judge Altonaga, these problems in these Fixodent studies left considerable analytical gaps in the plaintiff’s causation theory regarding the use of Fixodent and the development of neurological issues.

The Fixodent studies cited by the plaintiffs in their P&G Fixodent class action lawsuits housed under the larger MDL failed to determine how much of the Fixodent product a consumer would have to use in order to increase their risk of copper deficiency, which would then allegedly lead to neurological problems, according to Judge Altonaga. Additionally, the clinical trials submitted by the plaintiffs in their P&G Fixodent MDL were also found inadmissible by the court, meaning the plaintiffs’ had no other evidence by which to support their argument that Fixodent could cause consumers to develop a negative copper balance, copper deficiency, and eventually neurological conditions.

Additionally, according to the judge’s ruling to dismiss the P&G Fixodent class action lawsuit, “Plaintiffs do not consent to the January order, but do acknowledge that the January order deprives them of any basis to oppose the entry of final judgment as to, and the dismissal with prejudice of, all causes of action against defendants.” Although the plaintiffs do not oppose P&G’s motion to dismiss the Fixodent MDL, they do reserve the right to appeal the January order and any other final judgment by this court to the to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

The plaintiffs are represented by Eric T. Chaffin of Chaffin Luhana LLP and Andres F. Alonso of Alonso Krangle LLP,  Parker Waichman LLP and Douglas & London PC.

The P&G Fixodent Class Action Lawsuit is In Re: Denture Cream Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 1:09-md-02051, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.