testnew

Paraquat Lawsuit – January 2022 Update

January 2022 update: There are now over 700 paraquat lawsuits in the MDL. The parties are now preparing for a series of bellwether trials that are likely to begin in late 2022. Subsequent trials have dates of March 13, June 12, and September 18, all set to take place in 2023.

December 2021 update: Currently, there are 384 pending lawsuits in the paraquat MDL. Judge Rosenstengel also issued a case management order. This order establishes a method for selecting the first pool of bellwether trial cases. The plaintiffs may choose eight, while the defendants may nominate four cases for early trials.

Parties in the multidistrict litigation are also on the process of conducting fact discovery. This involves parties requesting for certain information and documents through fact sheets as well as requesting for production of documents such as medical records.

The case management order sets a deadline of March 31, 2022 for the fact discovery in the cases.

November 2021 update: Early in the MDL proceedings, defendants Syngenta and Chevron both filed motions to dismiss. The paraquat manufacturers argue that some of the cases were filed after the applicable statute of limitations has run out, some failed to adequately state a claim, and that some cases had to be dismissed for specific reasons based on state laws.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys should respond to the arguments on or before December 13.

October 2021 update: In July, despite calls from farmworker groups and health organizations to ban the use of paraquat in the country, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) re-approved the most acutely lethal herbicide still in use. This extends the pesticide’s registration for another 15 years.

In September, the EPA decision was frowned upon by advocacy groups. As a result, groups such as California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and the Pesticide Action Network North America petitioned the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that the re-approval of paraquat is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act. 

Paraquat MDL now includes 289 cases and the MDL judge issues an order requiring plaintiffs to submit a Plaintiff’s Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ).

June 2021 update: The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidated all federally filed paraquatlawsuitsinto the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Around 80 paraquat lawsuits were pending in several federal courts across the country. The Paraquat MDL was assigned to District Court Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel. The multidistrict litigation (MDL) will allow Judge Rosenstengel to oversee the discovery, pretrial motions, and other legal proceedings in paraquat cases.