Belviq Diet Drug Cases Alleging Cancer Link Proceed Without MDL

Eisai Inc. and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. will face individual lawsuits alleging the withdrawn diet drug Belviq causes cancer, following an order issued Tuesday by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that denied plaintiffs’ request to combine them.

Centralizing the lawsuits isn’t necessary to achieve efficiency in this litigation, the panel said.

It has been nearly 18 months since the Food and Drug Administration requested that Eisai withdraw Belviq from the market, but only a limited number of actions have been filed, many by the same plaintiffs’ counsel.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of establishing that ...