In a complaint filed on June 21, manufacturer Neutrogena Corporation is facing claims that its sunscreen products are contaminated with “dangerously high levels of benzene”, a “carcinogenic impurity linked to leukemia and other cancers”. Stating that both the...
Litigation Update: JPML Transfers Paraquat Cases to Illinois
On June 7, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation centralized the paraquat litigation pending against defendants Syngenta and Chevron involving the herbicide in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, citing in its order “the...
Litigation Update: Judge Grants GlaxoSmithKline Motion of Summary Judgment in Zofran MDL
In a 68-page order issued on June 1, the federal judge presiding over the Zofran MDL reversed his 2019 decision and granted GSK’s motion for summary judgment on the basis of pre-emption, essentially ending the multi-district litigation against the pharmaceutical...
Litigation Update: Federal Jury Clears 3M in Second Earplug MDL Bellwether Trial
On May 28, a federal court jury in Pensacola, FL found 3M not liable after less than one day of deliberation in the second bellwether trial held in the Combat Arms Earplug Version 2 (CAEv2) multi-district litigation. The jury determined that 3M was not responsible...
Litigation Update: Software Developer Clearview AI Asks Illinois Judge to Dismiss MDL Claims
At a hearing held May 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the facial recognition developer Clearview AI asked Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman to dismiss the consolidated complaint, arguing that its collection and dissemination of data is...
Litigation Update: 3M Earplug Expert Found Not Qualified in MDL Bellwether Case
On May 11, presiding Judge M. Casey Rodgers ruled against 3M by finding that one of its experts was not qualified to offer an opinion in the MDL bellwether case that was scheduled to begin trial on May 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...
Litigation Update: Allergan Motion to Dismiss Denied in Breast Implant Cases
On May 5, Judge Rachelle L. Harz of the New Jersey Superior Court denied in part Allergan’s motion to dismiss the master long-form complaint filed by the plaintiffs in the multi-county litigation (MCL) consolidated in June, 2020 to provide centralized case management...
Opioid Litigation Update
The first bellwether trial in the sprawling multidistrict opioid litigation began on May 3 in West Virginia federal court. The plaintiffs in the trial, Cabell County and the city of Huntington, West Virginia, which many consider the epicenter of the opioid drug...
Litigation Update: $7.1 Million Awarded to Former Service Members in First 3M Earplugs Bellwether Trial
On April 30, in the first bellwether trial to be held in the 3M earplugs multidistrict litigation, a Pensacola jury awarded $7.1 million to three former service members who claimed the company’s defective earplugs irreparably damaged their hearing. The plaintiffs,...
Litigation Update: Six More Suits Filed in the Paraquat Litigation
On the eve of a decision to determine whether the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will consolidate related lawsuits, defendants Syngenta and Chevron are the targets of six more lawsuits alleging that the herbicide Paraquat causes Parkinson’s...