The makers of the Paragard birth control device asked a Georgia federal judge to toss the master complaint in multidistrict litigation comprising almost 500 plaintiffs who say the device is defective, saying it’s a shotgun pleading without specificity.
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. and The Cooper Cos. Inc. said the plaintiffs bluntly lobbed 16 counts against them and various subsidiaries over the Paragard intrauterine device, accusing all defendants of all alleged wrongdoings without breaking down the allegations against the companies.
The plaintiffs say the Paragard devices broke inside their bodies without warning and despite assurances that the birth control method was safe. Claims include negligence, fraud, warranty breach, failure to warn, strict liability and violation of consumer protection laws.
Plaintiffs contend that the Paragard label is insufficient to warn users about the potential for it to break; the warning section of the label didn’t even contain the word “break” until 2019.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated more than 100 cases and transferred them to Judge May in December, after hearing arguments from counsel about who should take the consolidated suits. Judge May decided lead counsel in the MDL in February.