Attorneys Seek to Cancel Meningitis Court Session

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

The lead attorneys for victims of a deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak are moving to cancel a hearing scheduled for next week on the status of suits and resolved claims in hundreds of separate suits merged before a federal judge in Boston, Mass.
In a four-page filing today, Kristen A. Johnson asked U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel to cancel the scheduled June 1 session.
Johnson stated that several pending issues won't be resolved before that date,  They include whether suits against a Maryland pain clinic will be sent to Maryland courts or remain in federal court and whether some Tennessee clinic cases will go back to their home state.
In addition she said a mediation session that could lead to a resolution of some Tennessee cases has yet to take place.
"Further scheduling conflicts have arisen that make it difficult for an attorney from Hagens Sobol and Shapiro LLC to participate in person," Johnson, a partner in that firm, wrote.
If the motion is approved the next status conference will not take place until July 20.
According to the motion despite the anticipated cancellation, reports will be filed on or before June 1 by the  Plaintiffs' Steering Committee.
She wrote that the PSC report "will address what the court needs to do now (and later) to wind down the multi-district litigation."
She added that the trustee would be reporting on the status of the first round of payments to outbreak victims and the "anticipated timing for the second round payments."
The motion states that no objections to the proposed cancellation were filed by interested parties.
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