As parties gear up for the first bellwether trials to start soon in state court over the blood thinner Xarelto, disputes have arisen over whether punitive damages should be allowed into the cases, and what experts should be allowed to testify.
On Sept. 8, pharmaceutical giant Bayer asked the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas to dismiss punitive damages from two cases—one of which is set to go before a jury in November. The same day liaison counsel for the plaintiffs filed two motions seeking to bar defense experts from testifying that attorney advertising can lead to an increase in bleeding incidents, or that bleeding incidents can be beneficial, as they can lead to early diagnoses of conditions like cancer that are typically not easily detectable.
