Monday, August 17, 2026

Seven MDLs Drive Weekly Filing Volume

Seven leading MDLs generated 347 of 454 new filings last week, or 76% of reported volume. AFFF Products Liability Litigation (2873) led with 98 filings, including 42 from Krentsel & Guzman LLP and 41 from Keefe Law Firm LLC; Hair Relaxer Products Liability Litigation (3060) added 87, including 32 from Pulaski Kherkher PLLC. Zantac Products Liability Litigation (2924) reached 56 filings, all from Keller Postman LLC; AFFF and Hair Relaxer together generated 185 filings, while Zantac supplied 43% of its 130 trailing-30-day filings. See the full filing feed and firm-level breakdowns here.

Boston Scientific Plaintiffs Receive Leadership Structure

In Boston Scientific Spinal Cord Stimulator Products Liability Litigation (3181), Judge Josephine L. Staton appointed Behram V. Parekh, Carasusana Wall and Adam Evans as co-leads on Aug. 13 and Ashleigh Raso as liaison counsel. Pretrial Order No. 2 assigns common discovery, expert work, bellwether preparation and settlement negotiations to the leadership structure. Nigh Goldenberg Raso Vaughn PLLC filed one action. The appointments organize the proceeding; they do not decide liability or set a bellwether trial.

Food, Tracking and Ethylene Oxide Claims Advance

In Michigan, 44 plaintiffs sued Taylor Fresh Foods and Taco Bell on Aug. 12 as FDA and CDC updates placed the recalled-lettuce investigation at 9,481 illnesses, 398 hospitalizations and two deaths across 17 states; FDA also began inspection and sampling at Taylor Farms de Mexico, but those findings do not establish liability. Plaintiffs moved before the JPML on Aug. 4 to consolidate Apple AirTag stalking and product-liability actions, and two new Michigan and Virginia cases expanded that request. In Puerto Rico, Judge Camille L. Velez-Rive severed Medtronic ethylene oxide claims into facility-specific actions against Steri-Tech, Medtronic P.R. and Customed. Amended complaints are due Sept. 4, and defendants must plead by Oct. 5.