Second Circuit Sends Zyprexa Class Packing; No Common Proof of Causation, Reliance

In another blow to the use of aggregate proof of causation in consumer fraud class actions, the Second Circuit ruled Sept. 10 that a would-be class of third party payors claiming that they overpaid for the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa cannot be certified as a class because they have no classwide proof of causation or reliance (UFCW Local 1776 v. Eli Lilly & Co.).

Judge Gerard E. Lynch, writing for a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, reversed the lower court’s certification of civil RICO claims alleging that the overcharges stemmed from Lilly’s ...