Plaintiff’s Lawyer Voluntarily has Yaz Lawsuit Dismissed
Yaz lawsuit plaintiff Cherese Shadwick’s lawyer has dropped her lawsuit against Bayer just five days after the drug maker had the case moved from Madison County, Ill., to federal court.
The attorney decided to drop the case on Aug. 17. He asked for the dismissal from U.S. District Judge David Herndon "without prejudice," meaning Shadwick will have the chance to file her suit again if she wants to. Shadwick’s case began when she developed problems with her gallbladder that required her to have it removed. In the end, Shadwick sued Yaz manufacturer Bayer and Walgreens for those injuries on July 11. Bayer in turn had the lawsuit removed to federal court on Aug. 12, amid claims that Shadwick's attorney had "fraudulently defeated federal jurisdiction by joining Walgreen, an Illinois company, as defendant."
Bayer’s lawyer speculates that Shadwick's attorney did this because he believed he couldn’t win his lawsuit against the pharmacy if it was tried in state court. Shadwick’s complaint didn’t claim that Walgreens filled, dispensed or labeled the prescription wrong, Bayer's lawyer notes. She didn’t claim that the pharmacy knew or should have known how dangerous Yaz was when it filled the prescription. In addition, Shawick didn’t claim that Walgreens was in cahoots with Bayer, either. Bayer's legal team has argued that Bayer’s First Amendment rights protected the company's commercial speech (the right to say what they want to in advertising as long as it’s not found to be untrue) and that Herndon shouldn’t adjudicate claims that have anything to do with warnings and labels and just let the FDA do it.
All that remains in this matter is to see if Shadwick decides to refile her lawsuit.
