Trending news
Mike Leard Shares His Thoughts with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on Recent Award of Costs in the Zofran Products Liability MDL
Print PDFMike Leard, a partner in Nutter’s Litigation Department and member of its Product Liability practice group, discussed with Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly a recent ruling from the District of Massachusetts requiring plaintiffs in the Zofran multidistrict litigation to reimburse the defendant for the costs it incurred to obtain their medical records.
In the article, “MDL plaintiffs stuck with $430K in copying costs,” Mike mentions two key takeaways from the ruling:
“One, the decision is confirmation that obtaining medical records in products liability cases is ‘necessary’ to defend a case under the statute. Perhaps more importantly, the second takeaway is the recognition that there is no obligation [on the part of defense counsel] to know the unknowable at the very beginning of the case. What Judge Saylor is saying here is that the defendant at the very beginning of a case has no obligation to identify which medical records are ultimately going to be used at trial or for a dispositive motion,” said Leard.
He further added, “In a products liability case, the plaintiff says they took X drug or medication and as a result they now suffer some side effect. What medical records can show is whether the plaintiff actually has the injury they claim, whether they took or were prescribed the medication that they say they were prescribed, and whether they had co-morbidities or other preexisting conditions that could have caused the injury even if the plaintiff never received the particular medication.”
