The Onglyza Product Cases, A165387 decided on April 19, 2023 by the First District Court of Appeal is a case to be aware of.
The case involved 13 California state cases coordinated under a Judicial Council Coordination proceeding (JCCP) regarding the drug of Onglyza and Kombiglyze which contained the active ingredient saxagliptin, a medicine for type 2 diabetes. Plaintiffs alleged that they were injured as the active ingredient can cause heart failure. The trial court ordered the parties to conduct discovery in phases. The first phase covered percipient and expert discovery on the issue of general causation, noting that the litigation would then proceed as to other issues only if plaintiffs were able to show that the defendant’s drugs caused the injuries alleged. Following expert discovery, the defendants moved to exclude Plaintiffs’ causation expert, a Dr. Goyal. Defendants’ claimed in a Daubert/Sargon hearing that Dr. Goyal was either unqualified to offer his proposed opinions, or that the basis of the opinions were incomplete and didn’t support causation. Continue Reading Beware if Your Expert is Disqualified!!