A Georgia federal judge on Monday reportedly denied Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) a request to delay the first trial in thousands of lawsuits alleging its Paragard intrauterine device (IUD) can fracture during removal.
Paragard is a non-hormonal contraceptive device made of copper that can remain implanted for years.
U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May, who is overseeing the consolidated federal litigation, ruled Monday that the trial should proceed as scheduled on January 20.
The company had asked the court to pause the case while it appealed an earlier decision rejecting Teva’s attempt to have the claims dismissed.
Teva argued that a successful appeal could have ended the litigation entirely, which includes about 3,800 lawsuits centralized in federal court. Plaintiffs countered that the request was primarily a delay tactic and would unnecessarily stall progress in the case.
The upcoming trial will serve as the first “bellwether” in the multi-district litigation, Reuters reported.
In November, Teva and The Cooper Companies (NASDAQ:COO) sought summary judgment ahead of bellwether trials in the Georgia federal court related to multidistrict litigation over the Paragard IUD, which plaintiffs allege can break inside the uterus, potentially causing injuries, fertility complications, and the need for surgical intervention.
The companies argue that U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval preempts state-law claims related to the device’s design and warning labels, asserting that any changes proposed by plaintiffs would have conflicted with FDA-approved specifications.
Teva and Cooper contend that while design modifications are allowed when new information emerges, Paragard’s risk of breakage has long been known and does not meet that threshold. They maintain that the alleged defects do not justify unilateral changes without FDA authorization.
U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May, however, expressed concern over plaintiffs’ claims that Teva took five years to comply with an FDA mandate issued in 2010 to update Paragard’s warning labels. Judge May indicated the delay appeared intentional and suggested Teva may be attempting to rely on its own noncompliance to support its preemption defense.
Teva developed the copper-based device but sold it to Cooper Companies in 2017. Judge May previously allowed claims from plaintiffs Pauline Rickard, Alisa Robere, and Melody Braxton to proceed to bellwether trials.
Cooper, in November 2025, separately argues it should be dismissed from the bellwether trials, stating it acquired Paragard after the plaintiffs received their devices.
Teva sold the Paragard product to CooperSurgical in 2017. Claims against CooperSurgical in Rickard’s case were dismissed separately. Teva remains a defendant for patients who received the device while the company owned the product.
Reuters noted that in a December ruling, May rejected Teva’s argument that federal law barred the claims because the company could not change Paragard’s warning label without FDA approval.
The judge found evidence suggesting Teva had received new safety information that could have supported a label update, regardless of when patients received the device.
Price Action: TEVA stock is down 0.21% at $32.72 during the premarket session at the last check on Tuesday.
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