NSF trials to begin early next year

Mar 26, 2009

A U.S. District Court judge in Cleveland has scheduled the first of four trials to begin in January 2010 for the lawsuits related to gadolinium MRI contrast agent side effects and their possible connection to nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF).

NSF is a debilitating and occasionally fatal disease that can include fibrosis of the bone, kidneys, lungs, muscle, myocardium, pericardium, pleura, skeletal muscle, and testes.

Judge Daniel Polster plans to conduct the four trials on January 15, March 1, April 15, and June 1, 2009. He has presided over the consolidation of approximately 420 cases currently pending from across the country since February 2008.

The cases cite manufacturers Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals of Wayne, NJ; Bracco Diagnostics of Princeton, NJ; GE Healthcare of Chalfont St. Giles, U.K.; and Mallinckrodt, a division of Covidien of Hamilton, Bermuda, as the defendants.

Before the trials begin, the litigants will select 10 cases to undergo early discovery. Those 20 cases will be narrowed to 10, with five cases chosen by the plaintiffs and five chosen by the defendants. Defendants and plaintiffs then will select two cases from each other's list for the first four trials.

ACR committee works toward gadolinium-based contrast policy, October 24, 2008

NSF trial proceeds past status conference, September 30, 2008

Incidence of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis varies with contrast agents, July 24, 2008

Study questions some NSF risk factors, April 15, 2008

Gadolinium/NSF lawsuits centralized in Ohio federal court, March 21, 2008