UPDATE AS OF
MAY 2010 - PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT DEADLINE
All
Class Members must submit their claims by August 14, 2010 to:
Crawford Class Action Services
Suite 3 - 505, 133 Weber Street North,
Waterloo, ON N2J 3G9
Toll Free: 1-866-348-0333
The Law Office of Girones Lawyers
has filed a class action lawsuit in Canada against the manufacturers of
the medication Prepulsid (Cisapride) also known as Propulsid.
If you have taken Prepulsid and
have experienced heart-rhythm problems or cardiac arrhythmia please send
us, Girones Lawyers, an E-mail including your full name and address.
We will contact you with more
information regarding the class action proceeding.
UPDATE as of
SEPTEMBER 2008
The Prepulsid
Class Action is proceeding through the Court system at a snail's pace.
After many motions
and appeals involving the Statement of Claim, which has now lasted seven
years, the Defendant, Johnson & Johnson, was finally required to
file a Statement of Defence,
which is ready for review by clicking here.
It should be a
indication of the length of time involved in this Class Action that
after seven long years, documentary exchange is now progressing. The
documents that have to be exchanged involve thousands and thousands of
documents. It is expected that this process alone will consume another
two years. Thereafter, Examinations for Discovery will have to be
arranged. The process will last at lest a further one to two years, and
eventually, some time down the road, perhaps in four or five years from
now, we will have a trial in this matter.
Notwithstanding
all of the above, negotiations continue with Johnson & Johnson in an
attempt to reach a satisfactory settlement. Genova, Rochon, LLP in
Toronto, is leading the way in these negotiations, although our office,
of course, is involved in all aspects of such negotiations.
Further updates
will be posted when significant matters become necessary to report.
UPDATE as of OCTOBER 30,
2007
Johnson & Johnson brought an
application for leave to appeal the certification order of Madam Justice
MacDonald, but the application was dismissed.
A further application for leave to
appeal de novo, was also dismissed by the Ontario Superior Court.
Presently, Johnson & Johnson
has to deliver a Statement of Defence and proceed to Examinations for
Discovery of the representative Plaintiff and the Examination for
Discovery
of a representative of Johnson
& Johnson.
Those Examinations are in the
process of being scheduled.
Negotiations to try to reach a
settlement of the case are ongoing, but no settlement has been achieved
yet.
Publication of the Certification
Order will be published across Canada in the near future.
On January 18, 2007, Madame Justice Macdonald of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified the action
Boulanger v. Johnson Johnson Corporation, Johnson & Johnson Medical Products Inc./Products Medicaux Johnson & Johnson Inc. and Janssen-Ortho Inc., court file # 00-CV-197409CP as a class action (the "Prepulsid Class Action") and appointed Mrs. Aline Boulanger as the representative plaintiff for following class of persons:
"Class" means all persons in Canada (including their estates), excluding residents of Quebec, who ingested the prescription medicine Prepulsid; and
"Family Class" means spouses, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters of the Class who, by reason of their relationship with members of the Class are entitled to assert a claim.
Please click here to read Madame Justice Macdonald's Reasons for Decision.
The Press release announcing the certification decision can be found by clicking here.
The defendants thereafter sought to appeal the certification decision. The defendants' motion for leave to appeal was dismissed on May 16, 2007. The defendants also brought a further motion attempting to appeal the decision denying leave to appeal which was dismissed on September 13, 2007.
The Prepulsid Class Action raises allegations of negligence and breach of warranty and seeks damages on behalf of class members against the defendants for certain types of injuries allegedly suffered by class members because of their use of the prescription medicine Prepulsid. Prepulsid was available for sale in Canada between 1990 and August 2000 and was approved for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease (or GERD), gastroparesis and intestinal pseudo-obstruction. The plaintiff alleges that the injuries at issue are cardiac arrhythmias, including ventricular tachycardia, cardiac arrest, prolonged QT interval, torsades de pointes, ventricular fibrillation, sudden death and other heart disease.
In certifying this action as a class action, the court has made no determination as to the merits of the representative plaintiff's claims.
CLASS MEMBERSHIP
If you fall within one of the class definitions set out above, you are automatically a member of the Class or Family Class unless you choose to opt out (see below). While you do not need to do anything further at this stage to participate in this lawsuit, you may wish to obtain legal advice regarding this notice. If you wish to contact class counsel for that purpose (you are not required to do so) class counsel can be reached at:
ROCHON | GENOVA LLP
Barristers Avocats
121 Richmond Street West
Suite 900
Toronto, ON M5H 2K1
Joel Rochon
Sakie Tambakos
Tel: (416) 363-1867
Toll Free: 1 (866) 881-2292
Fax: (416) 363-0263
E-mail: jrochon@rochongenova.com
E-mail: stambakos@rochongenova.com
WILL BARRISTERS
Barristers & Solicitors
Box 96 3005 - 401 Bay Street
Toronto, ON M5H 2Y4
Gary R. Will
Tel: (416) 360-1194
Fax: (416) 360-8469
E-mail: gwill@willbarristers.com
GIRONES & ASSOCIATES
Lawyers
16 Cedar Street South
Timmins, ON P4N 2G4
Lorenzo Girones
Tel: (705) 268-4242
Fax: (705) 264-1646
E-mail: lgirones@girones.on.ca
HOW TO BE EXCLUDED FROM THE CLASS
Members of the Class who do not wish to participate in the lawsuit must "opt out". Any member of the Class who wishes to opt out of the lawsuit must do so on or before 5:00 p.m. on February 15, 2008 by sending a written election signed by the member of the Class stating that he or she opts out of the lawsuit to Rochon Genova LLP at the contact information identified above. If you do not opt out by that date, you will remain a member of the Class and will be bound by any judgment on the common issues. If a member of the Class opts out of the lawsuit then his or her family members will be deemed to have opted out as well, unless the family member has a separate claim as a member of the Class. No person may opt out a patient who is a minor or a mental incompetent, without the permission of the Court after notice to the Ontario Public Trustee and Children's Lawyer as appropriate. If you wish to opt out a minor or mental incompetent patient, please indicate that the patient is a minor or mental incompetent in your written election. Do not opt out if you wish to participate in the Prepulsid Class Action.
Please click here to view the complete Notice of Certification approved by the Court.
