Lawsuit Information Center
In many ways, 2024 was an anti-climatic year in the world of mass torts. The 3M Earplugs settlement has been a disappointment for thousands of claimants. The rejection of J&J’s efforts to force the talc claims into bankruptcy has not prompted a major settlement and the hernia mesh claims continue to drag on. We did get a major global settlement in the AFFF litigation, but it only covered water contamination claims by local municipalities.
Let’s talk about what we can expect in 2025 in the mass tort class action lawsuits with the highest predicted settlement payouts.
Roundup
Not that long ago Roundup was the most popular lawn and gardening product on the market. Than changed when scientific studies emerged linking the chemical in Roundup (glyphosate) to cancer. This evidence led to a wave of Roundup product liability lawsuits that resulted in a $10 billion verdict.
But the cases… kept going and soon we have over 40,000 claims. Bayer started trying cases. It won 10 a row and the expected settlement amounts in these cases plummeted. Did Bayer use this to leverage a lower settlement payout for victims? Nope it kept pushing its luck.
In the first half of 2024, a series of big plaintiff verdicts in Roundup trials pushed the expected settlement amounts of Roundup lawsuits much higher. This was followed by a few defense verdicts and an unfortunate appellate opinion in Pennsylvania that gave Bayer hope for Supreme Court intervention which combined to push settlement values down. So 2024 was basically a wash. 2025 will likely follow a similar pattern as Bayer seems content to continue on this path.
Paraquat
The Paraquat cases allege that chronic exposure to this industrial herbicide causes Parkinson’s disease. The Paraquat class action MDL has been one of the fastest-growing mass torts over the last 2 years. By the start of 2024 that growth rate had already begun to slow down and by the end of the year new cases had slowed to a trickle and the MDL was actually shrinking. This will probably continue into this. We do expect these lawsuits to settle at some point in 2025.
Paragard IUD
The Paragard IUD lawsuits allege that a defect in the IUD caused the retainer arms to break off inside the body during removal. The Paragard class action MDL is in the Northern District of Georgia with Judge Leigh Martin May. This MDL has been one of the slowest moving of any mass tort class action that we follow, so we are somewhat hesitant to predict that anything meaningful will happen in 2025. That being said, something has to happen in the MDL at some point.
Back in 2023 and for the first part of 2024, the Paraguard MDL was consistently adding around 40-50 new cases every month. That started to slow down pretty rapidly in the second half of last year and as we head into 2025 we are only seeing a fraction of that new case volume. The first bellwether trial is set for October 2025 — but that could get postponed or the case could get settled before trial leaving this litigation in continued limbo.
Firefighting Foam (AFFF)
The AFFF firefighting foam lawsuits allege that exposure to aqueous film-forming foam (“AFFF”) can cause certain types of cancer. All firefighting foam lawsuits in federal court were consolidated into a new MDL in the District of South Carolina. 2023 was sort of a significant year for this MDL. In August 2023, a global settlement deal was announced. Unfortunately, however, the settlement only included water contamination cases brought by local counties and water authorities. It did not cover claims by individuals alleging that they developed cancer from exposure to AFFF.
There are currently 7,600 pending cases in the AFFF MDL (as of Jan 2025), but we don’t know how many of these are water contamination versus individual exposure cases. The global settlement of the water contamination cases has led to widespread speculation that a global settlement deal of the cancer cases could be in the works, but nothing has materialized on that front yet. So 2025 could be the year that it happens. Of course, we made that same prediction about 2024.
Talcum Powder
The talcum powder cases allege that chronic exposure to talc in products such as baby powder caused cancer. The talcum powder class action against Johnson & Johnson is actually the second biggest mass tort MDL in the country, with 58,000 pending cases in the talc class action MDL as of January 2025.
Momentum towards a global settlement in the talc litigation has been very back and forth over the last 2 years as J&J has attempted to drag the cases into bankruptcy (multiple times). Currently on the table is a settlement deal worth around $11 billion that most of the plaintiffs have signed off on, but which is still awaiting approval by the bankruptcy court.
Tepezza Hearing Loss
Tepezza is a new prescription drug for thyroid eye disease (TED). Many patients who received Tepezza injections suffered permanent hearing loss and are now suing the manufacturer for failing to warn about this risk. The Tepezza lawsuits were one of the hot new mass torts at the start of 2024 and we were very enthusiastic about these cases. Although we still believe these are very strong cases, we were expecting there to be a lot more of them. Only about 100 new cases were added to the MDL during 2024 and there are now just 200 pending in the MDL as of January 2025.
Exactech Knee & Ankle Recall
Exactech is a leading manufacturer of surgical implant systems used for total knee and total ankle replacement surgeries. Exactech was forced to initiate a major recall of all its knee and ankle replacement implants (and hip) after discovering that a defect in the product packaging was causing plastic inserts in the products to deteriorate, leading to an abnormally high rate of premature implant failure. This led to a growing product liability mass tort.
The Exactech class action MDL was moving right along for most of 2024. Then Exactech filed bankruptcy as a result of the mounting size of the recall liability. The automatic stay kicked in and blocked any further cases from being filed and enthusiasm for these cases has quickly evaporated. Still, we think there will be good settlements for victims, just not what we had originally expected.
Hair Relaxer
In October 2022, a groundbreaking new study was published which found that regular use of hair relaxer (a product used by millions of Black women in the U.S.) increases the risk of uterine cancer. This immediately sparked a wave of hair relaxer cancer lawsuits that were quickly consolidated into a new class action MDL.
Millions of African American women in the U.S. use hair relaxers on a regular basis their entire adult life, which makes the size of the potential plaintiff field in this very big. 2023 was a year of explosive growth in the hair relaxer class action. In 2023 the hair relaxer MDL was the fastest growing mass tort in the country, going from 300 to 8,000 pending cases in the span of just few months. That changed significantly in 2024 as the pace of new filings dropped off dramatically.
For sure, 2025 will be a very big year for this litigation with the first bellwether test trials could start as soon as September or October.
Suboxone Tooth Decay Lawsuit
Suboxone is a drug that is used to treat opioid addiction and dependency and it has become very widely used in recent years. The new version of Suboxone comes in a film that dissolves under the tongue. These new sublingual films cause acute dry mouth resulting in severe tooth decay, tooth loss, and other dental problems. Initially, the maker of Suboxone refused to include a warning about tooth decay on the drug’s product label, despite being well aware of the problem.
A warning about tooth decay was only added to the Suboxone label after the FDA got involved and basically told the manufacturer to add one. Thousands of people who used Suboxone suffered tooth decay and tooth loss and they are now starting to file Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits. These cases allege that the manufacturer negligently failed to warn.
The Suboxone cases were consolidated into a new MDL in 2024 and over 700 cases were added to the MDL before the defendants offered a tolling agreement allowing claims to be filed out of court. There are very likely thousands of pending claims registered under the tolling agreement in addition to the 754 pending cases in the MDL as of January 2025.
Bard PowerPort
The Bard PowerPort is a port catheter implant that enables direct access to veins for people who require frequent attachment to catheters for fluid and medication, such as cancer patients getting chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the PowerPort device has a very high rate of fracturing or migrating after implantation due to design flaws in the device. When the device fractures or migrates it often results in serious injuries including internal vascular damage and infection.
Product liability lawsuits are now being filed by a growing number of patients who had a Bard PowerPort implanted and then suffered serious injuries due to the design defects which caused it to migrate or fracture. In August 2023, the Bard PowerPort lawsuits in federal courts were consolidated into a new class action MDL. Growth in the MDL started very slow, by starting around April things really got going. As of January 2025 the PowerPort MDL has 891 pending cases.
Depo Provera Lawsuits
Depo Provera, commonly known as the birth control shot, is a female contraceptive injection that has been around the since the early 1990s. Hundreds of thousands of women in the U.S. have taken Depo Provera at some point. A new scientific study released in March 2024 has shown that using Depo Provera can increase the risk of developing meningioma brain tumors. This study has prompted product liability lawsuits against the manufacturer, Pfizer. The Depo Provera lawsuits are likely going to be one of the hottest and most active mass torts in 2025.
Oxbryta Lawsuits
Oxbryta, introduced in 2019 as a treatment for sickle cell disease symptoms, was initially promising. Soon after its release, though, reports indicated that the drug might exacerbate certain symptoms of sickle cell disease, such as vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs). Due to these safety concerns, Oxbryta was voluntarily recalled in September 2024, leading to what is expected to be a growing wave of Oxbryta lawsuits against the drug manufacturer.
BioZorb Implant Lawsuits
The BioZorb implant was developed as a tissue marker for lumpectomy surgeries. However, new evidence reveals it may cause severe complications, such as chronic pain, scarring, and the need for further surgeries. Although intended to aid in recovery, the device has led to unexpected outcomes that its manufacturer, Hologic, did not fully disclose. BioZorb implant lawsuits are now being filed nationwide, and this litigation could gain significant momentum in the coming year.
Links to MDL Dockets
| MDL | DISTRICT ECF LINK | CASE # FOR QUERY |
| Roundup | N.D. Cal. | 16-md-2741 |
| Talcum Powder | D. New Jersey | 3:16-md-02738 |
| Paraquat | S.D. Illinois | 3:21-md-3004 |
| 3M Earplugs | N.D. Florida | 3:19-md-2885 |
| AFFF | D. South Carolina | 2:18-mn-2873 |
| Zantac | S.D. Florida | 20-md-2924 |
| Elmiron | D. New Jersey | 2:20-md-2973 |
| CPAP | W.D. Pennsylvania | 2:21-mc-1230 |
| Paragard IUD | N.D. Georgia | 1:20-md-2974 |
| Acetaminophen | SDNY | 1:22-md-03043 |
| Gardasil | W.D. North Carolina | 3:22-md-03036 |
| Exactech | E.D. New York | 1:22-md-03044 |
| Hair Relaxer | N.D. Illinois | 1:23-cv-00818 |
| NEC Formula | N.D. Illinois | 1:22-cv-00071 |
| Hernia Mesh (Bard) | S.D. Ohio | 2:18-md-2846 |
| Camp Lejeune | E.D. North Carolina | 7:23-cv-00897 |
| Tepezza | N.D. Illinois | 1:23-cv-03568 |
| Bard PowerPort | D. Arizona | 2:23-md-03081 |
| Social Media Addiction | N.D. Cal. | 4:22-md-03047 |
| Suboxone Tooth Decay | N.D. Ohio | 1:24-md-03092 |
| Uber Driver Sex Assault | N.D. Cal. | 3:23-md-03084 |
| OneWheel Injury | N.D. Cal. | 5:23-md-03087 |