11TH CIRCUIT APPEALS COURT AFFIRMS SETTLEMENT INJUNCTION IN FAVOR OF  PHYSICIANS

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - The federal appeals court for the eleventh circuit has

affirmed that Judge Moreno properly issued a preliminary injunction in

December 2002 prohibiting CIGNA from pursuing a settlement agreement with

Timothy N. Kaiser, M.D., and the plaintiff class he represented in Illinois

federal court. The court in its opinion noted that "[W]e find that the MDL

court's issuance of the preliminary injunction was proper and was not an

abuse of discretion," referring to the U.S. District Court for the Southern

District of Florida. The court further noted that "The MDL court was faced

with a situation where issuance of the injunction was necessary in aid of

its jurisdiction" and "[T]he impending settlement between the Kaiser

plaintiffs and CIGNA, which also would have settled all claims pending

against CIGNA in the MDL court, would have an impact on the MDL court's

jurisdiction over, and management of, the MDL proceedings."

Kaiser plaintiffs also argued that the injunction was "overly broad,"

violating the First Amendment, and that it prohibited contact with MDL class

members, even to discuss matters unrelated to the Kaiser settlement. In

response, the court indicated that "[W]e do not know whether the Kaiser

plaintiffs in fact were aggrieved by the preliminary injunction because they

have not given the district court an opportunity to rule on that issue.

Without such a record . . . we are unable to evaluate the merits of the

Kaiser plaintiffs' claims."