In May 2018, Judge M. Casey Rogers, who is overseeing the federal Abilify litigation, entered an Order to establish the “initial parameters by which the global mediation of this matter will proceed.” The parties were given 120 days (from May 1, 2018 until September 1, 2018) to finalize the framework for a mediation process. A Special Master has been appointed to assist the parties with the process.
Meanwhile, in tandem with the potential mediation process, the parties are also moving forward with the selection of a second round of bellwether cases to work up for trial in the federal litigation.
Accordingly, the Court will randomly select 100 cases by July 6, 2018. From there, the pool will be further narrowed to 40 individuals, claiming either Bipolar Disorder or Major Depressive Disorder/Depression as the diagnosis leading to their Abilify prescription and “Gambling” as an obsessive/compulsive/impulsive behavior they claim was caused by Abilify. Once the pool is reduced to 40 cases, the parties will engage in a discovery process to further reduce the pool to 10 cases by the end of 2018.
The Court is currently leaning towards the possibility of consolidating some of the cases for trial.
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