In re AH Robins Co., Inc., 211.

• Court: United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
• Citation: 505 F. Supp. 221
• Docket Number: No. 211.,211.
• Parties: In re A. H. ROBINS CO., INC. "Dalkon Shield" IUD Products Liability Litigation. Susan COSTELLO v. A. H. ROBINS CO., INC., D. Nebraska, C.A. No. 80-0-460. Carol SOUCY et al. v. A. H. ROBINS CO., INC., D. New Hampshire, C.A. No. C-80-384-D. Jo Ann COWAN v. A. H. ROBINS CO., INC. et al., N.D. California, C.A. No. C-80-3086-SW Claire C. SHARPE v. A. H. ROBINS CO., INC., et al., N.D. California, C.A. No. C-80-3099-SW. Angela GALLOP v. A. H. ROBINS CO., INC. et al., N.D. California, C.A. No. 80-3138-SW.
• Decision Date: 08 January 1981

505 F. Supp. 221

In re A. H. ROBINS CO., INC. "Dalkon Shield" IUD Products Liability Litigation.
Susan COSTELLO
v.
A. H. ROBINS CO., INC., D. Nebraska, C.A. No. 80-0-460.
Carol SOUCY et al.
v.
A. H. ROBINS CO., INC., D. New Hampshire, C.A. No. C-80-384-D.
Jo Ann COWAN
v.
A. H. ROBINS CO., INC. et al., N.D. California, C.A. No. C-80-3086-SW
Claire C. SHARPE
v.
A. H. ROBINS CO., INC., et al., N.D. California, C.A. No. C-80-3099-SW.
Angela GALLOP
v.
A. H. ROBINS CO., INC. et al., N.D. California, C.A. No. 80-3138-SW.

No. 211.

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

January 8, 1981.

Before ANDREW A. CAFFREY, Chairman, and ROY W. HARPER, CHARLES R. WEINER, EDWARD S. NORTHROP, ROBERT H. SCHNACKE, FREDERICK A. DAUGHERTY, and SAM C. POINTER, Jr., Judges of the Panel.

OPINION AND ORDER

PER CURIAM.

The Panel has previously transferred, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, actions in this litigation to the District of Kansas and, with the consent of that court, assigned them to the Honorable Frank G. Theis for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.¹ This litigation has grown to include over 971 actions of which about 300 have been settled and dismissed in the transferee district and approximately 441 have been remanded by the Panel to their respective transferor courts following receipt of suggestions of remand from Judge

505 F. Supp. 222

Theis.² The complaints in the actions in the transferee district basically allege that: 1) defendant A. H. Robins Company, Inc., (Robins) promoted and labeled an intrauterine device known as the Dalkon Shield in a manner that was misleading and that failed to warn the prospective wearer of the dangers of the Dalkon Shield; and 2) Robins was negligent in the design, testing, manufacture, inspection and/or distribution of the Dalkon Shield. Additional defendants in the actions in the transferee district include plaintiffs' personal physicians, hospitals and/or clinics, and two physicians who have served as medical consultants to Robins and who at one time held proprietary rights and interests in the Dalkon Shield

The transferee judge has reported to the Panel that common discovery relating to product liability has been completed in the transferee district. Three months ago the Panel considered the objections of Robins to the transfer of nineteen potential tag-along actions that were pending in the Northern District of California. The Panel denied transfer with respect to those nineteen actions, holding in relevant part as follows:

On the basis of the papers filed, the Panel is persuaded that transfer of these actions would neither serve the convenience of the parties and witnesses nor promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation. Robins stresses that pretrial proceedings are no longer active in the MDL-211 transferee district and that the primary purpose for transfer of new tag-along actions has been limited to obtaining the benefits and restrictions deriving from the pretrial orders entered by the transferee judge. Robins urges that this purpose can be accomplished, with respect to Northern District of California actions, without transfer under Section 1407 because 1) the court in the Northern

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