Friday, August 14, 2026

PFAS Intake Leads a Tight Five-Docket Filing Day

PFAS claims again anchored a concentrated filing day, with Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (2873) logging 11 filings as Keefe Law Firm LLC filed six and Napoli Shkolnik added three. Social Media Adolescent Addiction Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation (3047) followed with 10 filings led by Levin Papantonio’s four and Nigh Goldenberg Raso Vaughn PLLC’s three, while Hair Relaxer Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation (3060) added nine through two filings each from Peiffer Wolf and Sill Law Group PLLC. Device claims held their own as Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Devices Products Liability Litigation (2666) recorded eight filings, including four from Meshbesher & Spence and three involving Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, while Zantac Products Liability Litigation (2924) added four, all from Keller Postman LLC. The distribution shows plaintiff-side intake remaining concentrated in established PFAS, platform, consumer-product, device and pharmaceutical channels rather than dispersing across the wider mass-tort docket. See the full filing feed and firm-level breakdowns here.

Abbott Opposes Proposed Spinal-Stimulator Centralization

Abbott opposed centralization of Abbott Laboratories Spinal Cord Stimulator Products Liability Litigation (3194) on Aug. 13, keeping the proposed proceeding in a contested JPML posture rather than an operating MDL. The company argues that the cases involve different devices, alleged defects and defenses, undermining plaintiffs’ efficiency case for coordinated pretrial management. That position puts manufacturer-specific discovery, regulatory issues and expert proof at the center of the JPML centralization motion. The panel’s decision will determine whether the Abbott claims proceed on a common federal track or remain in their existing courts; no Abbott MDL has been formed.

DOJ Gives California 49 Days to Correct Women’s-Prison Safeguards

The U.S. Department of Justice found on Aug. 13 that California systematically failed to protect women from staff sexual abuse and harassment at the Central California Women’s Facility and the California Institution for Women. The civil-rights findings identify deficient reporting channels, investigations and accountability measures that left women vulnerable to retaliation and misconduct. DOJ gave California a 49-day corrective period to address those conditions, including confidential reporting, stronger investigations and improved oversight. The finding supplies a federal enforcement record that can sharpen institutional-knowledge and remedial-failure issues in California women’s-prison abuse litigation, while exposing the state to potential civil action if it does not respond.