Attorneys for the plaintiff and drugmaker McNeil Consumer Healthcare went back and forth Tuesday in federal court over motions to exclude pieces of evidence—some related to profit margins and lobbying—in the first bellwether trial in the Philadelphia-based Tylenol multidistrict litigation.

Argument in the case took place during a status conference before U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The conference came days after a series of rulings from Stengel denying McNeil's requests to toss the case.

The wrongful-death suit is slated to go to trial in late spring and was filed by plaintiff Rana Terry, whose sister, Denice Hayes, died of liver failure in 2010 allegedly caused by the consumption of Extra Strength Tylenol.