Valsartan MDL Judge Refuses to Lift Sanctions Against Defendant ZHP

CAMDEN, N.J. — The judge overseeing the valsartan-containing drugs MDL docket has denied defendant Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. (ZHP)’s motion to reverse a special master’s order imposing sanctions on the company for its refusal to produce its CEO for a deposition.

In a one-page order, Judge Renee M. Bumb of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey rejected ZHP’s argument that it made good faith attempts to comply with discovery orders and that the sanctions proposed by Hon. Thomas I. Vanaskie (Ret.) are “excessive and unjust.”

The lawsuits accuse ZHP and other drug manufacturers of selling …