Active mass tort & MDL status,
September 2026.

Pending and total case counts and judges come from the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation report Pending MDL Dockets by Actions Pending, 1 September 2026. A falling pending count against a large total, as with the 3M earplug MDL, usually means most claims have been paid or dismissed. Status notes marked May 2026 have not been confirmed again since then.

• What is a mass tort and how is it different from a class action?

  Mass tort consolidates many individual injury claims against a common defendant where each plaintiff has different facts, injuries, and damages. Class action treats plaintiffs as a single group with identical claims and shared recovery. Mass tort plaintiffs keep their individual cases and get individual settlement amounts based on their specific facts. Most major drug, medical device, and toxic exposure cases are mass torts (consolidated as Multidistrict Litigation, MDL) rather than class actions because injury severity varies enormously.
• What is the Roundup MDL status in May 2026?

  In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2741, Northern District of California, Judge Vince Chhabria. Bayer has paid approximately $11 billion in Roundup settlements through 2024-2025. New cases are still being filed and consolidated. Recent verdicts include a $1.56 billion Missouri jury verdict in August 2024 (subsequently reduced by trial court but appeal pending), plus mixed Bayer trial outcomes in late 2024 through early 2026. Average individual settlement values have ranged from $5,000 to $250,000 depending on cancer type, exposure duration, and venue.
• What about 3M Combat Arms Earplug MDL?

  In re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2885, Northern District of Florida, Judge Casey Rodgers. 3M announced a $6 billion global settlement in August 2023 covering approximately 250,000 claimants. Most of 2024-2025 was spent on claims processing through the AlphaWatch claims administrator. Average settlement per claimant has been approximately $24,000, with severe hearing loss cases recovering substantially more. Late opt-out cases continue but the majority is resolved.
• Are Camp Lejeune claims still being filed?

  The Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) administrative claim filing window closed August 10, 2024 (two-year statutory deadline). Cases now proceed in litigation at the Eastern District of North Carolina. The DOJ and Navy announced the Elective Option settlement framework in 2023 with tiered payments based on diagnosed condition and exposure duration: Tier 1 conditions (specific cancers) get $150,000 to $450,000 per individual based on exposure years. Most plaintiff firms view the Elective Option as low and pursue litigation instead. As of May 2026 approximately 500,000+ administrative claims and roughly 200,000+ federal court cases were pending.
• What is the hair relaxer MDL status?

  In re: Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 3060, Northern District of Illinois, Judge Mary Rowland. Consolidates claims alleging hair relaxer products (L'Oreal, Revlon, Strength of Nature, Soft Sheen, Carson, others) caused uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometriosis through chemical exposure (formaldehyde-releasing agents). Bellwether selection occurred 2024-2025. Daubert motions on causation pending into mid-2026. No global settlement as of May 2026. Average settlement projections range from $50,000 for less severe cases to $1.5 million for catastrophic cancer cases if settlements materialize.
• What is happening with talc and Johnson & Johnson?

  In re: Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Products Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2738, District of New Jersey, now before Judge Michael Shipp. Johnson & Johnson tried three times to settle the talc claims through the bankruptcy of a subsidiary. The first two, LTL Management I and II, were dismissed in 2023 (the second by Chief Judge Michael Kaplan in New Jersey on 28 July 2023). The third, Red River Talc LLC (Case No. 24-90505, Southern District of Texas), was dismissed on 31 March 2025 when Judge Christopher Lopez refused to confirm its plan, and J&J said it would return to the tort system. The JPML report of 1 September 2026 lists 69,250 actions pending in the MDL, the most of any MDL in the country.
• What about PFAS and AFFF litigation?

  In re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation, MDL 2873, District of South Carolina, Judge Richard Gergel. Water utility claims settled in 2023-2024 for combined $10 billion plus (3M paid $10.3 billion, DuPont/Chemours/Corteva paid $1.18 billion). 2025-2026 focus shifted to individual personal injury claims for cancers linked to PFAS exposure (kidney, testicular, thyroid, ulcerative colitis). The JPML report of 1 September 2026 lists 15,264 actions pending in the MDL out of 19,840 filed. Settlement averages for individual cases not yet established as bellwether trials and Daubert motions on individual causation are still being worked through.
• What is the social media addiction MDL?

  In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, MDL 3047, Northern District of California, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Consolidates claims against Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Snap, and YouTube alleging platform design caused adolescent mental health crises (eating disorders, suicide, depression, addiction). Massive case with thousands of plaintiffs filed by individuals, school districts, and state attorneys general. Defense motions to dismiss largely failed in late 2023 through 2025. Discovery is ongoing. No bellwether trial date confirmed as of May 2026. Expected to be one of the defining mass torts of the late 2020s.
• What is the status of Suboxone tooth decay litigation?

  In re: Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) Film Products Liability Litigation, MDL 3092, Northern District of Ohio. Plaintiffs allege Indivior's Suboxone film caused severe tooth decay and dental injury. Cases are advancing through bellwether selection 2025-2026. No global settlement and limited individual settlements as of May 2026.
• What happened to Zantac and Tylenol autism litigation?

  Zantac: Most federal cases dismissed in December 2022 by Judge Robin Rosenberg in MDL 2924 (SD Fla) on Daubert grounds (general causation rejected). Some state court cases survived. Settlements have been limited. Tylenol/Acetaminophen autism: Most cases dismissed in mid-2023 by Judge Denise Cote in SDNY (MDL 3043) on Daubert (general causation rejected). Some state court cases remain. Both serve as cautionary tales about general causation rejection torpedoing entire mass torts.
• How do CPAP (Philips Respironics) claims stand in 2026?

  In re: Philips Recalled CPAP, Bi-Level PAP, and Mechanical Ventilator Products Liability Litigation, MDL 3014, Western District of Pennsylvania. Philips recalled millions of CPAP and BiPAP devices in 2021 because the PE-PUR sound foam could break down. The economic loss class settlement covered device costs. Personal injury claims were resolved through a $1.075 billion settlement program under a Master Settlement Agreement dated May 2024, with registration closing 31 January 2025. The JPML report of 1 September 2026 lists 624 actions still pending out of 1,033 filed.
• What about Paragard IUD, Exactech, and other current MDLs?

  Paragard IUD: MDL 2974, Northern District of Georgia, before Judge Leigh Martin May, with 4,185 actions pending on 1 September 2026. Alleges device breakage on removal causing surgical injury. Exactech hip and knee implant recall: MDL 3044, Eastern District of New York, before Judge Nicholas Garaufis, with 1,838 actions pending. Exactech filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on 29 October 2024 (Case No. 24-12441), which paused the MDL. Bard hernia mesh (MDL 2846, Southern District of Ohio) is still one of the largest, with 23,316 of 25,213 actions pending on 1 September 2026. Numerous other smaller MDLs are at varying stages.