JPML Transfers Nevada DePuy ASR Hip Case, Leaving Preemption Dispute for the MDL

LAS VEGAS — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has transferred a DePuy (NYSE: JNJ) ASR hip implant case from Nevada to the federal MDL in Ohio despite a pending motion for remand in which the parties dispute whether state-law claims against a distributor are preempted.

The JPML said in its Dec. 12 transfer order that claims by Rose Monteiro and Priscilla Gordon share questions of fact with cases already transferred to the MDL pending before U.S. District Judge David Katz (In re: DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., ASR Hip Implant Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2197, N.D. Ohio), and can pursue …