Missouri Supreme Court Stays A Multi Plaintiff Talc Trial

Missouri Supreme Court Stays A Multi Plaintiff Talc Trial

Introduction

Another product liability lawsuit will join the centralized Roundup lawsuits under MDL No. 2741: Roundup Products Liability Litigation. The plaintiff, a man from Mississippi alleges that the use of this famous weed killer led to his diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The MDL was created in October 2016, before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in the Northern District of California. The main allegation raised by each lawsuit is that the weed killer and its active ingredient, glyphosate, resulted in a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or another cancer. The defendant, Monsanto, will face the first trial on June 18, 2018, in the Superior Court for the County of San Francisco. About 3,500 plaintiffs now represent nearly 2,200 cases filed in state and federal courts.

Roundup Lawsuit Proceedings Bifurcated
The Court has bifurcated the Roundup MDL proceedings and has decided to first address the general causation link between Roundup and cancer, before considering any case-specific issues. The Daubert Hearings have been completed. The judge issued a pretrial order on March 19 wherein a telephone case management conference was scheduled so that additional hearings to address epidemiological evidence offered by one expert, and to ask follow-up questions to another expert could be arranged. The court notice released on March 26 cited April 4 and 6 as the scheduled dates for those hearings.

Earlier this month, a man from Florida filed a case against Monsanto in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleging that the exposure to Roundup over a period of 30 years led to his diagnosis of diffuse B-cell lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma linked to glyphosate contained in the weed killer. The lawsuit claims that the situation could have been avoided if he had been told years ago about the potential cancer risks linked glyphosate, which the company allegedly knew, but failed to share with consumers.