At 1:00 p.m. CST today, women and their families who suffered injuries as a result of a power morcellator will have their first day in federal court as a consolidated litigation in front of the Honorable Kathryn H. Vratil in the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.
On October 15, 2015, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) entered an order transferring all power morcellator cases against defendant Ethicon to the District of Kansas for coordinated and consolidated pretrial proceedings. The litigation was renamed IN RE: Ethicon, Inc. Power Morcellator Products Liability Litigation, MDL Case No. 2652.
After being appointed by the JPML, Judge Vratil entered her first order in the case on October 16, 2015. This order, titled Practice and Procedure Order #1, detailed certain rules and procedures that will govern the case as well as set an initial scheduling conference for plaintiffs’ and defendants’ attorneys for today, November 18, 2015.
All matters relating to pretrial and discovery proceedings will be addressed in today’s conference. Among other items, the parties will specifically address the appointment of leadership among the attorneys and the scheduling of various deadlines.
We are proud to represent women who were harmed by power morcellators, and we will provide an update as to what occurred.