MDL Judge Refuses to Dismiss Fraud-Based Claims Against Valsartan Manufacturers

CAMDEN, N.J. — The New Jersey federal judge overseeing the MDL docket for cases alleging contamination of the blood pressure drug valsartan has refused to dismiss the fraud-based claims against the manufacturing defendants, ruling that they were pled with sufficient particularity.

However, in the Jan. 29 order, Judge Robert B. Kugler of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed without prejudice the fraud-based claims against the wholesaler and pharmacy defendants, ruling that they were too conclusory to fulfill Rule 9(b)’s particularity requirement.

Originally marketed under the brand name Diovan, valsartan is a prescription drug primarily used …