Thursday, May 7, 2026

Depo-Provera, Talc, and PowerPort Anchor 376-Filing Weekly Surge as Social Media, Paraquat Gain Traction

The Depo-Provera Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3140) led all federal mass torts with 58 new filings in the Northern District of Florida, outpacing even the established Johnson & Johnson Talcum Powder Litigation (MDL 2738), which added 51 cases in New Jersey. The Bard Implanted Port Catheter Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3081) continued its acceleration with 46 filings in Arizona, now rivaling pharmaceutical dockets in velocity. Notably, the Paraquat Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3004) recorded 13 new filings in the Southern District of Illinois — its most concentrated weekly activity in months — while the Social Media Adolescent Addiction Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3047) expanded into Minnesota with 15 filings, signaling geographic diversification beyond its California concentration. The Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2873) saw only 2 new filings, a sharp deceleration from prior weeks.

Paragard MDL Advances Toward Bellwether Selection as Case Count Nears 3,980

The Paragard IUD Products Liability Litigation (MDL 2974) is approaching roughly 3,980 pending actions before Judge Leigh Martin May in the Northern District of Georgia, ranking it among the ten largest active MDLs by volume. Defendants CooperSurgical Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. have been operating under a Defendant Fact Sheet protocol established by a 2023 case management order, and the docket has moved well past its early discovery phase. The court is now focused on bellwether trial selection, with Judge May pressing for aggressive case narrowing as a precondition to trial scheduling. Settlement discussions are expected to intensify once initial bellwether outcomes establish a damages baseline for the thousands of plaintiffs alleging that the copper IUD's arms broke on removal, causing injury.

Meta Moves to Overturn $6M State-Court Addiction Verdict; Federal MDL Bellwether Still Pending

Meta Platforms Inc. filed a post-verdict motion seeking to overturn a \$6 million liability finding in the K.G.M. case — but the motion was filed in California state court, not in the federal MDL. The March 2026 verdict arose from the parallel California coordinated proceeding (JCCP 5255) pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court; Meta's motion for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial is before the Los Angeles state judge who oversaw that specific bellwether trial. The federal Social Media Adolescent Addiction Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (MDL 3047), with roughly 2,568 pending actions before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California, remains pre-verdict — the first federal bellwether is scheduled for June 15, 2026, with a state attorney general case to follow August 6. The state-court verdict's outcome on post-trial motions will nonetheless shape settlement calculus across both tracks.