Michigan Pain Specialists Fungal Meningitis Class Settlement Covers 311 Patients and Survivors
After trial: The $10.5 million is a class-wide total shared among 311 patients and survivors, and the sources do not itemise individual shares. Payment was delayed in 2016 by fees, costs and Medicare and insurer claims.
Won by Sommers Schwartz PC.
A class settlement with Michigan Pain Specialists resolved claims of 311 patients and survivors of the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak traced to contaminated steroid injections. It was reached in Livingston County Circuit Court in March 2016. The $10.5 million is a single class figure that the sources do not itemise by patient. Robert B. Sickels of Sommers Schwartz PC sat on the three-attorney plaintiffs' steering committee for Michigan.
What happened
In March 2016, patients of Michigan Pain Specialists and the families of those who died reached a class settlement with the Brighton-area pain clinic over the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. The deal, worth $10.5 million, was reached on a Friday in Livingston County Circuit Court in Howell and covered 311 patients and survivors.
The outbreak began with contaminated preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate, a steroid compounded by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. The pharmacy recalled three lots in late September 2012, but by then the vials had been shipped to clinics in many states. Michigan Pain Specialists, based in the Brighton area, injected the steroid into patients being treated for chronic back and spinal pain. Michigan was among the hardest-hit states, and Michigan Pain Specialists bore the most cases per capita of any clinic.
The harm was severe. More than 260 people in Michigan were sickened and 19 died. Survivors developed fungal meningitis and spinal abscesses, and victims described hallucinations, intense pain and temporary paralysis. Nationally, the outbreak sickened more than 750 people in 20 states and killed 64.
The claims against the clinic were brought as a class action, and the plaintiffs were represented by a three-attorney steering committee for Michigan: Marc Lipton of Lipton Law, Robert B. Sickels of Sommers Schwartz PC, and Marc Newman of The Miller Law Firm PC. Randy Hackney, representing the clinic, called the settlement fair.
The clinic settlement ran alongside a separate national track. Patients also had claims against the compounding center, which went into bankruptcy, and a tort trust approved by the bankruptcy court in Boston covered class members nationwide, Michigan's included. The sources do not break the $10.5 million down by patient. Lipton later said victims could expect roughly one-third of whatever they received from the national trust through the clinic agreement.
Payment took time. Reporting in March 2016 noted that attorney fees, court costs, bankruptcy expenses and claims from Medicare and private insurers stood between the settlement and the patients, and that it was unclear when money would reach them. By October 2016 the first compensation to Michigan victims was being reported.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
- 1.Legal News, 'Contaminated steroids class-action suit settles for $10.5M', Dec. 30, 2016·Archived copy
- 2.CBS Detroit, '$10.5 Million Settlement Reached In Class-Action Meningitis Outbreak Lawsuit', Mar. 26, 2016·Archived copy
- 3.Michigan Public, 'Hundreds of fungal meningitis patients reach $10.5 million settlement with pain clinic', Mar. 27, 2016·Archived copy
- 4.Michigan Public, 'Fungal meningitis victims are finally getting some financial compensation', Oct. 4, 2016·Archived copy
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