What Does “Consolidation” Mean when Courts Combine Lawsuits Against Paraquat Manufacturers?
You may have heard about the hundreds of lawsuits pending against chemical manufacturers like Syngenta over the herbicide Paraquat. Research links the commercial herbicide to Parkinson’s disease, a chronic, progressive neurological disease that affects balance, coordination, and speech. More than 600 lawsuits are pending in federal court against Paraquat’s manufacturers in consolidated multidistrict litigation (MDL). But what does this MDL mean for the plaintiffs in those actions?
What is Paraquat?
Paraquat is a popular commercial herbicide used to kill invasive grasses and weeds. Users must have a license to apply the chemical to commercial crops, and farmers typically use it on cotton, corn, and soybeans. The EPA first approved the use of paraquat in 1964 after a British chemical company known as Imperial Chemical Industries first manufactured the chemical under the name Gramoxone. Another company has since purchased ICI. However, many chemical companies now make paraquat under a host of brand names.Current manufacturers of paraquat include:
- Syngenta,
- Innvictis Crop Care, LLC.
- Helm Agro,
- Adama Group,
- United Phosphorous,
- Sinon USA, Inc., and
- Altitude Crop Innovations, LLC.
These manufacturers face hundreds of lawsuits in a multidistrict litigation action in federal court.
What is Multidistrict Litigation?
Paraquat’s manufacturers now face more than 600 lawsuits in federal and state courts across the country. When multiple lawsuits pop up involving the same drug, chemical, or defective product, federal courts will sometimes use a “multidistrict litigation” (MDL) system to manage the cases better. The courts will transfer multiple civil cases sharing a common issue to a single district court in this system. That court then handles all discovery and pretrial matters for the MDL lawsuit. The goal of MDL suits is to conserve resources and ensure consistent court rulings across multiple suits involving the same legal issues.
The MDL Suits Involving Paraquat
In June of 2021, a judicial panel created an MDL in the Southern District of Illinois for claims against the manufacturers of Paraquat. The defendants and most of the plaintiffs agreed to create the MDL but hotly contested the venue, with the Northern District of California and the Southern District of Illinois vying for control.The panel sent the MDL to Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel of the Southern District of Illinois. This court will now oversee all discovery and pretrial matters in the more than 600 cases pending in the MDL.
Contact the Madeksho Law Firm
If you or a loved one were harmed by paraquat exposure, we may be able to help. Give the Madeksho Law Firm a call at 1-888-910-6376 or contact us online. Your consultation is free, and you won’t pay any fees unless we recover compensation on your behalf.
