In re Zyprexa Products Liability Litigation

Over 8,000 individuals (plaintiffs) sued pharmaceutical manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company (Eli Lilly) (defendant) in various courts for personal injuries they sustained from the drug Zyprexa. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the cases to the Eastern District of New York, and a significant number of the plaintiffs reached a settlement with Eli Lilly that was subsequently approved by the court. To effectuate the terms of the settlement, the court appointed special masters to determine payment amounts, and the court also approved a protocol by which claims could be submitted and approved for disbursement of funds. Per the terms of the settlement, none of the plaintiffs could receive payment until 86 percent of the claims had been submitted and approved by the special masters, with 6,474 of those approved claims being diabetes-related. Eli Lilly deposited a large sum into escrow in preparation for payouts, but nearly one year after the settlement was reached, only half of the claims had been properly submitted and approved for payout. Additionally, one-third of the claims had been submitted but were not approved because they failed to conform with the instructions for submission, due largely to the failure of some class counsel to assist their clients with prompt and proper submission of claim documents. The delay in submissions correspondingly delayed payout for all other plaintiffs, including those who provided their documentation in a timely manner, and the court took the issue into consideration.