The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hear oral arguments May 28, 2009, about whether to consolidate all denture cream lawsuits filed against the makers of Fixodent and Poligrip. All of the cases involve common allegations that the denture adhesive creams caused zinc poisoning, neuropathy and other neurological damage.
The hearing was scheduled after plaintiffs in at least two lawsuits requested that all cases pending in different federal districts throughout the United States be transferred to one court for coordinated pretrial proceedings.
According to the hearing notice issued by the MDL panel, there were 11 individual denture cream zinc poisoning lawsuits pending in 10 different districts at the time the plaintiffs’ motions were filed. Nine of the cases are Poligrip lawsuits filed against GlaxoSmithKline and the other two cases are Fixodent lawsuits pending against Proctor & Gamble.
The Panel is able to consolidate and centralize lawsuits filed in different jurisdictions before one judge in an MDL, or multidistrict litigation, where the cases involve common issues of fact, transfer would advance the efficient handling of the actions and serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses.
All of the cases allege that high amounts of zinc contained in Fixodent and Poligrip adhesive creams can be absorbed into the body, which could cause increased zinc levels and copper depletion, or hypocupremia, which is known to cause significant health problems in humans.
Hypocupremia caused by zinc poisoning can lead to irreversible neurological injury and damage such as neuropathy, weakness and numbness in the extremities, and loss of balance.
The Motion argues that transfer is appropriate for the denture cream lawsuits, since the cases involve common questions of fact about whether the denture cream was defectively designed, whether testing was responsible and sufficient, and whether adequate warnings were provided by the defendants about the risk of zinc poisoning.
The plaintiffs who filed the Motion proposed that the Denture cream litigation be centralized in the Southern District of Florida. However, competing proposals have been filed requesting that the cases be consolidated in other districts, such as the District of Colorado and Eastern District of New York.
Denture cream zinc poisoning lawsuits are widely distributed throughout the United States, without any one district currently containing more than two cases. One case each has been filed in the District of Colorado, the Southern District of Florida, the Middle District of Florida, the Eastern District of New York, the Middle District of Georgia, the Southern District of Ohio, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Western District of Tennessee. The Northern District of California is the only district that has two pending denture cream lawsuits.
