First Bellwether Trial in Tylenol MDL Postponed

U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has ordered that Terry v. McNeil-PPC, Inc., the first bellwether trial in the Tylenol MDL, be pushed back four months to allow for the resolution of similar Tylenol suits pending in New Jersey.

Plaintiff, Rana Terry, filed suit on behalf of her deceased sister, Denice Hayes. In November 2015, Defendant McNeil Consumer Healthcare attempted to get Terry dismissed, arguing that the suit was time-barred by Alabama’s wrongful death statute, which demands that such actions must be brought by a personal representative of the deceased within two years of the date of death. Plaintiff countered that the defendant’s argument was invalid; although Plaintiff was not the personal representative when the suit was originally filed, she was appointed as the representative by the time she filed a short-form complaint in federal court.

Additionally, Defendant claimed summary judgment should be granted on the grounds that Alabama’s wrongful death statute is unconstitutional. The statute allows only for the recovery of punitive damages, and the defense argued that without compensatory damages the jury would not be able to reasonably agree on an amount of punitive damages.

However, Judge Stengel ultimately denied the defendant’s request for dismissal. Stengel agreed that Defendant’s argument was indeed invalid due to Rana Terry’s status as her sister’s representative when the federal claim was filed and held that compensatory damages are not always a valid means to determine whether punitive damages are excessive.

Terry is currently scheduled for trial on September 19, 2016. Additionally, monthly status conferences for the Tylenol MDL are scheduled to begin on May 31, 2016. 

The case is: Rana Terry, as Personal Representative & Administrator of the Estate of Denice Hayes, Deceased, v. McNeil-PPC, Inc., Docket No. 2:12-cv-07263

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