Unreliable Specific Causation Opinions Take Down Valsartan Bellwether

Litigation attorney Eric Alexander published a blog for Drug & Device Law analyzing the Valsartan multidistrict litigation (MDL) decision in Roberts, where the court excluded the plaintiff's sole specific causation witness under 2023 amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and granted summary judgment to the defendants in the first bellwether case. He explains that the court found the plaintiff's causation analysis unreliable, including the attempt to "rule in" medication use as a substantial cause of liver cancer without a sound basis in epidemiology, occupational exposure or animal data as well as talks about the opinion's broader affirmation of robust Daubert gatekeeping in MDLs. Mr. Alexander also highlights the court's refusal to let jurors hear "hours of unreliable expert testimony" before ruling on admissibility, reinforcing that Rule 702 is designed to keep such opinions from ever reaching a jury.

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