Valsartan settlement fund will be used to disburse payouts that may be made by different generic drug makers, after versions of the hypertension drug were distributed with cancer-causing contaminants.
The U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Valsartan lawsuits has been asked to approve the creation of a qualified settlement fund, as well as appoint a settlement administrator and custodian for funds that will be paid by certain generic manufacturers of the recalled hypertension drug, which has been linked to the development of cancers among former users.
There are currently more than 1,200 product liability lawsuits being pursued against various different manufacturers of generic valsartan pills, which were distributed with cancer-causing chemicals between 2015 and 2018, following changes to the drug's manufacturing process.
Each of the lawsuits raise similar allegations that high levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and other contaminants in the recalled pills caused former users to develop liver cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, esophageal cancer and various other malignancies.
Given common questions of fact and law, all Valsartan cancer lawsuits have been consolidated for discovery and pretrial proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey since 2019, where U.S. District Judge Renee M. Bumb is preparing a group of cases for early trial dates later this year.