Love v. Wyeth, Inc.

Full title: JAN LOVE PLAINTIFF v. WYETH, INC., et al. DEFENDANTS

Court: United States District Court, E.D. Arkansas, Western Division

Date published: Dec 10, 2008

4:04-CV-00744-WRW (E.D. Ark. Dec. 10, 2008)

Opinion

4:04-CV-00744-WRW.

December 10, 2008

ORDER

WILLIAM WILSON JR., District Judge

Pending is Plaintiff's Motion to Consolidate Cases (Doc. No. 19). Defendants have responded

Plaintiff seeks to consolidate, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 42, her two cases filed against different drug manufacturers, because they "share common issues of law and fact, the parties would not be prejudiced by consolidation, and because consolidation would serve the interests of judicial economy."

These cases were transferred, under 28 U.S.C. § 1407(a), to the MDL pending in the Eastern District of Arkansas. An MDL transferee court has jurisdiction for pretrial proceedings only, and a case transferred under 28 U.S.C. § 1407 "shall be remanded . . . at or before the conclusion of such pretrial proceedings to the district from which it was transferred."¹

1 28 U.S.C. § 1407(a).

Since this case is here for pretrial purposes only, consolidation is improper — regardless of whether the criteria for consolidation under Fed.R.Civ.P. 42(a) are satisfied.²

2 See In re Penn Central Commercial Paper Litigation, 62 F.R.D. 341, 344 (S.D.N.Y. 1974).

Accordingly, the Motion to Consolidate is DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED