In re Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation

169 F. Supp. 3d 396, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29752, 2016 WL 890251
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 8, 2016
Docket13-MD-2434 (CS); 13-MC-2434 (CS); 13-CV-6586 (CS); 14-CV-288 (CS)
StatusPublished
Cited by83 cases

This text of 169 F. Supp. 3d 396 (In re Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation, 169 F. Supp. 3d 396, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29752, 2016 WL 890251 (S.D.N.Y. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

Seibel, United States District Judge.

Table of Contents

I.Background.. .408

A. Background Applicable to Both Cases.. .408

B. Background Related to Jennifer Dan-ley. . .410

C. Background Related to Christie Hayes.. .411

II. Discussion.. .411

A. Legal Standard.. .411
B. Defendants’ Clinical Experts.. .418

1. Experts’ Qualifications & Opinions. . .415

2. Opinions on Secondary Perforation. . .418

3. Opinions on the Mirena Label.. .422

4. Opinions on 2D Versus 8D Ultrasound. . :424

5. Opinions on Epidemiology.. .426

6. Conflicting Bayer Statements and Documents.. .426

C. Plaintiffs’ Causation Experts.. .427

1. Roger C. Young, M.D., Ph.D_427

2. John Jarrell, Ph.D., P.E... .437

3. Susan Wray, Ph.D_446
4. Richard Strassberg, M.D_456
D. Defendants’ Regulatory Experts ...461
1. David Feigal, M.D., M.P.H_461

2. Dena Hixon, M.D.... 468

E. Plaintiffs’ Regulatory Expert — Suzanne Parisian, M.D_474
F. Plaintiffs’ Epidemiological Expert— April Zambelli-Weiner, Ph.D... .482

III. Conclusion.. .488

Danley v. Bayer, 13-CV-6856, and Hayes v. Bayer, 14-CV-288, are the first two cases selected for trial in the In re Mirena IUD Products Liability Litigation multidistrict litigation (“Mirena MDL”). Plaintiffs have sued three related companies, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Bayer Pharma AG and Bayer OY (“Bayer” or “Defendants”), alleging that Mirena, an intrauterine device (“IUD”) perforated Plaintiffs’ uteruses and caused them injuries, and that Defendants did not adequately warn Plaintiffs about the risks of Mirena. Plaintiffs Danley and Hayes have also brought claims alleging design [408]*408defect and negligence, and are seeking punitive damages.1

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Omnibus Motion to Preclude the Expert Testimony of Defendants’ Experts Steven Goldstein, M.D., Jay Goldberg, M.D., M.S.C.P., Michael Policar, M.D., M.P.H., Michelle Collins, Ph.D., C.N.M., R.N.-C.E.F.M., Vanessa Dalton, M.D., M.P.H., Geri Hewitt, M.D., and Marcia Javitt, M.D., F.A.C.R., (Doc. 2702). Plaintiffs also move to preclude Defendants’ regulatory experts, Dena Hixon, M.D., (Doc. 2705), and David Feigal, Jr., M.D., M.P.H., (Doc. 2724). Also before the Court are Defendants’ motions to preclude the testimony of Plaintiffs’ causation experts Roger Young, M.D., Ph.D., (Doc. 2694), John Jarrell, Ph. D., P.E., (Doc. 2679), Susan Wray, Ph.D., (Doc. 2691), and Richard Strassberg, M.D., (Doc. 2688). Defendants have also moved to preclude Plaintiffs’ regulatory expert Suzanne Parisian, M.D., (Doc. 2685), and Plaintiffs’ epidemiological expert April Zambelli-Weiner, Ph.D., (Doc. 2697).

I. Background
A. Background Applicable to Both Cases

The following facts, which are based on the record generated by these motions and Defendants’ motions for summary judgment, (Docs.2756, 2762) - including Defendants’ Local Rule 56.1 Statements and Plaintiffs’ responses thereto, (Docs. 2851 (“Danley 56.1 Stmt. & Resp.”), 2854 (“Hayes 56.1 Stmt. & Resp.”)),2 and supporting materials — are undisputed except where noted.3

In 2000 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approved the Mirena, a plastic T-shaped IUD that measures 1.26 by 1.26 inches, as safe and effective for intrauterine contraception. (Danley 56.1 Stmt. & Resp. ¶¶ 1-2.) Mirena provides contraceptive protection for up to five years, and has a cylinder in its stem that continuously releases a dose of the hormone levonorgestrel (“LNG”), (id. ¶ 3), a synthetic progestin. (Declaration of Diogenes P. Kekatos in Support of Plaintiffs’ Omnibus Motion (“Kekatos Omnibus Deck”), (Doc. 2704), Ex. B, General Expert Report of Jay Goldberg, M.D., M.S.C.P. (“Goldberg Report”), at 8.) It must be prescribed and inserted by a healthcare professional. (Danley Stmt. & Resp. ¶ 4.) The Mirena has removal threads that permit the user to check its placement. (Id. ¶ 13.)

The Mirena label has undergone four changes to its warning regarding the risk of perforation since the FDA’s initial approval in 2000.4 (Id. ¶ 6.) The 2009 label, [409]*409which was in effect at the time both Ms. Hayes’ and Ms. Danley’s Mirenas were inserted, included a “Highlights” section on the first page that stated: “Perforation may occur during insertion. Risk is increased in women with fixed retroverted uteri, during lactation, and postpartum.” (Id. ¶¶ 8-9; Hayes 56.1 Stmt. & Resp. ¶¶ 8-9.) The 2009 label also included a Warnings section that stated, “Perforation or penetration of the uterine wall or cervix may occur during insertion although the perforation may not be detected until some time later ... Delayed detection of perforation may result in migration outside the uterine cavity, adhesions, peritonitis, intestinal obstruction, abscesses and erosion of adjacent viscera.” (Danley 56.1 Stmt. & Resp. ¶ 10.) It further warned that surgical removal might be required if perforation occurred. (Id.) The label also instructed healthcare providers to teach patients that they should check the Mirena threads every month, and that a patient should contact her doctor if unable to feel the threads. (Id. ¶ 18.) The label additionally instructed healthcare providers to, prior to insertion, give each patient a copy of the “Patient Information Booklet” that is included with every Mirena, and to discuss potential side effects and how to feel the Mirena threads. (Id. ¶ 14.) The Patient Information Booklet states that “Mirena can cause serious side effects,” including embedment and perforation, without reference to the timing of these potential events. (Id. ¶ 15.) Beginning in 2005, the warning label for ParaGard, another IUD, included the sentence: “Spontaneous migration has also been reported.” (Id. ¶ 53.)

The parties agree that Defendants warned against the possibility of uterine perforation during insertion. (Id. ¶ 9.) They also agree that Defendants did not warn against the possibility that perforation could occur after and unrelated to insertion, which Plaintiffs call “secondary perforation” or “spontaneous migration.”5 Whether such a possibility exists is at the heart of their dispute. Plaintiffs and their experts maintain that a properly placed Mirena, with no perforation related to insertion, is capable of later perforating the uterus and migrating out of it. (Id. ¶ 56; Declaration of Christopher J. Cook in Support of Defendants’ Motion to Exclude the Testimony of Roger C. Young, M.D., Ph.D. (“Cook Young Deck”), (Doc. 2696), Ex. B, General Causation Expert Report of Roger C. Young, M.D., Ph.D. (“Young Report”), at 6; Declaration of Christopher J.

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169 F. Supp. 3d 396, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29752, 2016 WL 890251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-mirena-iud-products-liability-litigation-nysd-2016.