Mass Torts & Defective Product Claims

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are currently pursuing mass tort lawsuits against corporations whose products caused serious harm. This hub tracks every active litigation — from Roundup and Camp Lejeune to Ozempic and AFFF firefighting foam — and helps you understand whether your injury may qualify for compensation.

What Is a Mass Tort Lawsuit?

A mass tort lawsuit is a civil court case in which a large number of individual plaintiffs claim injury from the same product, drug, or environmental hazard. Each plaintiff retains their own case — and their own potential damages — rather than being lumped into a single group recovery. This structure rewards claimants whose injuries are most severe.

Mass torts often involve defective drugs, dangerous medical devices, toxic chemicals, or contaminated water supplies. Defendants are typically large corporations or government entities that distributed the harmful product at scale. For a deeper explanation of how these cases are filed and structured, see our guide on What is a mass tort?

According to the U.S. Courts, mass tort MDLs account for more than 60 percent of all pending federal civil cases in some years. That share has grown steadily as opioid, talc, and PFAS litigations expanded through the 2020s.

Mass Tort vs. Class Action: Key Differences

Mass torts and class actions are both tools for group litigation, but they work very differently for individual claimants. Understanding the distinction helps you know what to expect from your claim and how compensation is calculated.

If you were seriously injured by a defective product or drug, a mass tort almost always produces higher individual recoveries than a class action. You can also browse open class actions if your situation involves a lower-severity, high-volume consumer harm instead.

Active Mass Tort Litigations in 2026

Dozens of mass tort litigations are open and accepting new plaintiffs as of June 2026. The cases below are the largest and most active based on pending plaintiff counts, recent bellwether results, and settlement fund activity tracked by our aggregator.

Our live tracker pulls daily updates from court dockets, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, and agency enforcement feeds. Filings, plaintiff counts, and estimated fund sizes are updated each morning. You can check your eligibility across all active cases with our eligibility check tool.

The cases span pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, military exposure, and consumer products. Scroll through the sections below for a summary of each major litigation, or use the table of contents to jump directly to the one that applies to you.

Defective Product and Product Liability Claims

Product liability law holds manufacturers, distributors, and retailers responsible when a defective product causes injury. A defect can exist in the product's design, its manufacturing process, or its labeling and warnings. All three types of defects can support a mass tort.

Common product liability mass torts include defective medical devices such as hernia mesh implants, hip implants, and IVC filters. Tens of thousands of patients have filed claims alleging that these devices failed prematurely, migrated inside the body, or were never adequately tested before going to market. Read the full breakdown in our Defective product claims guide.

You can also check open settlements for product liability cases that have already reached a resolution — some settlement programs still accept late-filing claimants within specific grace windows.

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination

Marines, their families, and civilian workers stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987 were exposed to drinking water contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride. These chemicals have been linked to bladder cancer, kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and Parkinson's disease, among other conditions.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 waived sovereign immunity and gave exposed individuals a two-year window to file claims — a deadline that has since been extended under administrative review. The U.S. Department of the Navy has received more than 400,000 claims. Elective Option settlement tiers range from $150,000 to $450,000 depending on the diagnosed condition and years of exposure.

Full eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and current settlement tier details are on our dedicated Camp Lejeune claims page. This is one of the largest government-administered tort programs in U.S. history, and claim volume makes early filing advantageous.

Ozempic and GLP-1 Drug Lawsuits

Semaglutide medications — sold under brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus — are now at the center of a rapidly growing mass tort alleging that manufacturers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly failed to warn patients about the risk of gastroparesis (stomach paralysis), intestinal obstruction, and severe vomiting requiring hospitalization.

The MDL, In re: GLP-1 RA Products Liability Litigation, was consolidated in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2024. As of June 2026, more than 13,000 plaintiffs have joined the litigation, making it one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical mass torts in a decade. A non-obvious detail competitors often miss: claims require medical records documenting a gastroparesis diagnosis or hospitalization specifically attributed to the drug — not merely nausea or weight-related side effects.

See our full Ozempic lawsuit claims page for the current plaintiff count, bellwether trial schedule, and what medical records you need to support a claim.

Hair Relaxer Cancer Lawsuits

Hair relaxer lawsuits allege that chemical straighteners containing lye (sodium hydroxide) and other endocrine-disrupting compounds significantly increase the risk of uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, and endometriosis. A landmark 2022 National Institutes of Health study found that women who used chemical straighteners more than four times a year had more than double the risk of uterine cancer compared to women who never used them.

The litigation is consolidated in the Northern District of Illinois (MDL No. 3060). Major defendants include L'Oreal USA, Revlon, Soft Sheen, and several store-brand manufacturers. Plaintiffs must generally show a uterine or ovarian cancer diagnosis after regular long-term use. Our hair relaxer lawsuit page details what qualifies as "regular use" under current plaintiff fact sheet requirements.

Paraquat and AFFF Firefighting Foam Litigation

Paraquat is an agricultural herbicide that plaintiffs allege causes Parkinson's disease after prolonged exposure. The litigation, consolidated in the Southern District of Illinois, involves farmworkers, applicators, and anyone who lived or worked near fields where paraquat was sprayed. More than 5,000 cases are pending, and no global settlement has been reached as of mid-2026.

AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) contains PFAS chemicals — sometimes called "forever chemicals" — that have been linked to bladder cancer, kidney cancer, thyroid disease, and testicular cancer. Firefighters, military personnel, and people who lived near bases or airports where AFFF was used are the primary plaintiffs. The MDL in the District of South Carolina has produced several hundred-million-dollar settlements with individual chemical manufacturers including 3M, DuPont, and Chemours.

Get specifics on exposure requirements and qualifying diagnoses on our Paraquat lawsuit and AFFF firefighting foam lawsuit pages.

Roundup Herbicide Litigation

Roundup, the glyphosate-based weed killer originally developed by Monsanto (now owned by Bayer), is linked in tens of thousands of lawsuits to non-Hodgkin lymphoma. In February 2026, Bayer proposed a $7.25 billion settlement to resolve current and future claims, which received preliminary court approval; a final approval hearing is set for August 19, 2026. A June 2026 Supreme Court ruling in Monsanto's favor on federal preemption has complicated the outlook for cases not yet resolved, so current status matters more than usual here.

See our full Roundup lawsuit page for the settlement details, eligibility criteria, and how the Supreme Court ruling may affect your claim.

Suboxone and Depo-Provera Claims

Suboxone (buprenorphine/naloxone) tooth decay lawsuits allege that Indivior, the manufacturer, failed to warn patients that the sublingual film dissolves tooth enamel and causes severe dental damage including tooth loss. Many patients were already in opioid recovery programs and had limited access to dental care, compounding the harm. The MDL is pending in the Northern District of Ohio.

Depo-Provera lawsuits allege that Pfizer's injectable contraceptive significantly increases the risk of meningioma, a type of brain tumor, especially with prolonged use. A major French study published in 2024 found a relative risk increase of more than three times for long-term Depo-Provera users. The U.S. litigation is still in early consolidation stages, meaning plaintiffs who file now may be positioned ahead of any global settlement fund allocation.

Full eligibility criteria for both litigations are on our Suboxone lawsuit and Depo-Provera lawsuit pages.

How Mass Tort Compensation Works

Mass tort compensation is calculated individually based on factors including the severity of your diagnosed condition, your documented medical expenses, your lost wages and future earning capacity, and your pain and suffering. There is no fixed payout formula across the litigation — each plaintiff's damages are negotiated or litigated separately.

Most mass tort cases resolve through a global settlement in which the defendant sets up a settlement fund. A Special Master or claims administrator then evaluates individual claims against a point matrix. Plaintiffs with cancer diagnoses, long-term disability, or documented economic losses typically receive the highest awards. Minor injuries with no hospitalization typically receive substantially less.

Attorney fees in contingency-based mass torts are typically 33 to 40 percent of the net recovery. This fee is deducted after the settlement is reached, not charged upfront. Make sure you understand your fee agreement before signing a retainer.

Deadlines and Statutes of Limitations

Missing a filing deadline permanently bars your claim — no exceptions. Statutes of limitations for mass tort claims vary by state, typically ranging from two to four years from the date you discovered — or should have discovered — that your injury was caused by the defendant's product.

Some litigations have their own statutory deadlines. The Camp Lejeune Justice Act, for example, set a specific administrative filing deadline managed by the Department of Navy. AFFF claims involving municipal water supplies may trigger different discovery-rule start dates than direct military exposure claims. The clock can start from your diagnosis date, the date a warning was issued, or the date the FDA took regulatory action — whichever is latest under your state's discovery rule.

Do not wait to evaluate your claim. Even if your injury occurred years ago, an attorney can often establish a later discovery date that keeps you within the statute. Earlier filing also gives you priority positioning in many settlement allocation systems.

How to Know If You Qualify

Qualifying for a mass tort claim generally requires three things: exposure to the product at issue, a qualifying diagnosis linked to that exposure, and a claim filed within the applicable statute of limitations. The hardest element for most claimants to establish is the causal link between their specific diagnosis and the defendant's product.

Medical records are the backbone of any mass tort claim. You will typically need records confirming your diagnosis, prescription or purchase history showing you used the product, and ideally records showing the timing of exposure relative to when your symptoms appeared. Gaps in records can often be supplemented with pharmacy records, employer records, or military service files.

The fastest way to find out if you may have a viable claim is to use our eligibility check tool. The tool asks a structured set of questions about your product exposure and diagnosis and matches you against current active litigations. It is free and takes under five minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a mass tort lawsuit?

A mass tort lawsuit is a civil action where many individuals sue the same defendant for injuries caused by the same product, drug, or hazard. Each plaintiff keeps their own individual case and recovers damages based on their specific harm — unlike a class action, which pools all plaintiffs into a single recovery.

What is the difference between a mass tort and a class action?

In a class action, all plaintiffs share one settlement that is divided equally or by formula. In a mass tort, each plaintiff's damages are calculated individually — meaning someone with a serious injury can recover far more than someone with a minor one. Mass torts are almost always better for plaintiffs with significant personal injuries.

How long do mass tort lawsuits take to settle?

Most mass torts take two to seven years to reach a global settlement. The timeline depends on the number of plaintiffs, how many bellwether trials are needed, and whether the defendant contests liability or moves quickly to negotiate. Some litigations — like Camp Lejeune — have government-imposed administrative timelines that create separate urgency.

Do I need a lawyer to file a mass tort claim?

You are not legally required to hire an attorney, but virtually all mass tort attorneys work on contingency — no upfront cost. Claimants with legal representation consistently recover more than those without, and attorneys handle the deadlines, evidence, and negotiations that determine your final award. The contingency fee is only owed if you win.

What is an MDL and how does it affect my case?

MDL stands for Multidistrict Litigation. A federal judicial panel can consolidate thousands of mass tort cases before one judge for pretrial proceedings. Your case remains individual and retains its own damages, but the MDL structure speeds up discovery, enables bellwether trials, and typically leads to a global settlement offer that each plaintiff can accept or reject.

What medical records do I need to start a claim?

You typically need records documenting your diagnosis, evidence that you used the product (prescriptions, purchase records, employment or military records), and ideally records showing when your symptoms began relative to your exposure. An attorney can help you request records you do not currently have, including pharmacy records and VA files.

Can I still file if the statute of limitations may have passed?

Possibly. Many states apply a "discovery rule" that starts the clock from when you knew — or reasonably should have known — that your injury was caused by the defendant's product, not from the exposure date itself. This can significantly extend your filing window. An attorney can evaluate whether the discovery rule applies to your situation.

Are mass tort settlement payments taxable?

It depends on what the payment compensates. Amounts that compensate for a physical injury or physical sickness are generally excluded from gross income under IRC Section 104(a)(2) — the exception most mass tort payouts rely on. Punitive damages, interest, and any portion for lost wages are generally taxable regardless of the underlying injury. See our full settlement tax guide for how allocation works, then confirm the treatment of your specific settlement with a qualified tax professional.