Kentucky Injury Lawyer Blog

Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC attorney Brian D. Cook has filed another case in a Multi District Litigation (commonly referred to as MDL’s) action against the manufacturers and distributors of Hydroxycut. To read a copy of the Complaint, click here. About forty other cases have been filed nationwide against a company known as Iovate Health Sciences USA, Inc. and its many parent, sister, and subsidiary companies, thirty four of which are currently pending. The Hydorxycut brand had been sold for years with claims from the manufacturer that it would be a low-cost alternative to other diet aids. It claimed to burn fat, aid in dieting, and enhance energy, among other things. After at least 23 reports of severe liver problems (including jaundice, liver damage requiring transplant, and increased liver enzymes) and even death, in May of 2009, in a letter to Iovate the U.S. Food and Drug Association informed Iovate of the serious and deadly consequences of using its products and urged consumers to stop taking Hydroxycut products. Almost immediately, the FDA issued a statement that Iovate agreed to a recall of Hydroxtcut products which forced a withdrawal of Hydroxycut products from shelves in American stores and online. Cases filed in U.S. Federal Courts in response to injuries caused by Hydroxycut products have been consolidated in an MDL (Case No. MDL-F02087) in the Southern District of California. The MDL process, at its most basic level is like a hybrid between a typical lawsuit and a class action lawsuit. When cases are filed, they are consolidated together for purposes of “discovery,” the exchange of information between the various parties to a lawsuit. Typically, three (or some other agreed upon number) of trials, known as bellwether trials, are conducted to asses possible outcomes in front of a jury. Next, depending on the outcome of the bellwether trials, the individual cases may be sent back to the district court where they were originally filed for trial or they may be settled with the defendants in some sort of settlement agreement. To learn more about MDL's and the MDL federal court system, click here.