Defendants challenge class action certification. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Defendants challenge class action certification. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023.

Common Factor. 1995 Apr;(no 10):1, 33-36. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE AIDS/95700361
Dubin CS; Wadleigh J

Abstract: The National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) and the manufacturers of Anti-Hemophilia Factor Concentrates (AHF) are being sued in a class action case for ignoring and downplaying risks of HIV infection from AHF in order to enhance their financial gain. The defendants in the case, however, have challenged the class action certification. Their Petition for a Writ of Mandamus argues that a class action lawsuit is not an appropriate legal vehicle for this type of case because, among other reasons, it will place an entire industry's survival in the hands of a single jury decision. The two primary challenges to certification by the petition are that 1) it would complicate hemophilia/AIDS litigation and not simplify it, and 2) there is no common definition of negligence throughout state law. With certification in question, it is conceivable, according to attorney David Shrager, that hundreds or even thousands of additional claims will now be filed in state and Federal courts throughout the country. Essentially, the defense against the Writ argues that the defendants knew in the 1960s of the high risk from known and new viruses in the plasma pools, that they had a duty to reduce such risk, and that they not only failed to withdraw their products from the market, they downplayed the harm done to persons who used contaminated AHF by making misleading statements. The class action trial is scheduled to begin October 2, 1995.

Keywords: Adolescence Blood-Borne Pathogens Factor VIII/THERAPEUTIC USE Hemophilia/*COMPLICATIONS Human HIV/ISOLATION & PURIF HIV Infections/*COMPLICATIONS/TRANSMISSION *Jurisprudence Malpractice Recombinant Proteins/THERAPEUTIC USE NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

951130
M95B0904

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