Plaintiffs lawyers hoping to revive 3,128 lawsuits over cholesterol drug Lipitor have asked an appeals court to overturn what they consider to be a heightened standard on expert evidence — one they said could hasten the demise of other multidistrict litigation.
It’s a battle that’s been fought before: Lawyers at the same appellate firm, Washington’s Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, lost a similar argument on June 2 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which affirmed dismissal of 315 lawsuits brought over Zoloft. Partner David Frederick argued that case for the plaintiffs. Now, his colleague, Derek Ho, is going before the Fourth Circuit against the same defendant, Pfizer Inc., which is represented once again by Mark Cheffo of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in New York.
