Camp Lejeune Lawsuit News and Updates

Our lawyers represent victims seeking a Camp Lejeune lawsuit in all 50 states.

This page provides more comprehensive and updated information on Camp Lejeune claims than anywhere.

This page provides the following:

1. The latest news and updates on the Camp Lejeune lawsuit
2. Who is eligible for compensation
3. Projected per-person Camp Lejeune settlement amounts based on the type of claim
4. How we can help you bring a suit to receive the compensation you deserve

Our lawyers provide a new update almost daily to give you the latest news on the litigation. We understand this process is confusing for many who have suffered so much.  We just reopened the comments below to answer any questions you may have.

Our last Camp Lejeune lawsuit update was on  April 26, 2024, at 7:32 a.m.

If you have a potential Camp Lejeune lawsuit for the injury or death of a loved one, call our lawyers today at 800-553-8082 or get a free online consultation. There is no fee or cost unless you get financial compensation for the harm that was done to you.

Latest News on Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Lawsuit

Before we discuss the Camp Lejeune lawsuits and our lawyers’ estimates of expected settlement amounts, let’s examine the latest news in the toxic water lawsuits.

April 26, 2024 – Plaintiffs’ Track 3 Proposal

The attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the Camp Lejeune case have submitted a formal proposal to consider serious illnesses in Track 5.

The proposed diseases are

1. multiple myeloma
2. pancreatic cancer
3. esophageal cancer
4. aplastic anemia/myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
5. scleroderma.

The history of this is late last year, the plaintiffs’ Camp Lejeune lawyers proposed liver cancer, sclerosis/scleroderma, multiple myeloma, kidney disease, and aplastic anemia for Track 3. They also suggested that the illnesses submitted by the government for Track 2 be considered for Track 3.

In a separate filing on the same day, the government recommended that the court select any of the five diseases not chosen from the U.S. proposed diseases for Track 2, including prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer, as Track 2 illnesses.  The court designated the illnesses for Track 2.

With the diseases selected for Track 2 removed from both submissions, the remaining conditions for consideration are pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, sclerosis/scleroderma, multiple myeloma, and aplastic anemia, which the plaintiffs’ Camp Lejeune attorneys have nominated for Track 5.

There is understandable frustration from victims with illness that will not be included in the first three tracks. How are the diseases being selected?  The stated reasons from both sides are the disease’s severity and the probable number of affected cases. The unstated reason is both sides want to push forward cases they can win and that will have higher verdicts (or, from the government’s perspective, lower verdicts).  That is why the government is pushing cases like “dental effects” and hypersensitivity skin disorders. They do not even represent the plaintiffs’ primary health concerns and, in many cases, such as dental effects, may be secondary to cancer treatments.

April 24, 2024 – Ruling on Discovery Battle

Today, the court addressed the motion we discussed yesterday with the government’s request of a a 30-day extension to respond to certain new written discovery requests related to the case. This includes the second set of requests for production, interrogatories, and requests for admission specifically for Track 1 Discovery Plaintiffs. The court, finding that the defendant has shown good cause, has granted this extension. The new deadline for these responses is now set for May 28, 2024.

But the lawyers’ legal motions were talking over each other. The DOJ motion did not specifically include an extension for responding to an earlier Rule 26(e) request from the plaintiffs. This request demanded that the defendant supplement all prior discovery responses with any new, developed, or previously unproduced information.   Plaintiffs’ attorneys are understandably particularly focused on getting responses to previous requests that were critical for understanding the scope of documents the defendant might rely upon to contest allegations in the Master Complaint.

The court clarified that the granted extension applies only to the newly served discovery requests. However, it does affect the defendant’s obligation under Rule 26(e) to supplement previous discovery responses, which is what the battle in the motions was really about. My take is that the government did want to bundle everything into that extension request, and the court is not letting it do that.

April 23, 2024 – Discovery Battle

Plaintiffs’ lawyers are pushing back on the DOJ’s request to delay responding to discovery. The argument is that the plaintiffs have prioritized speed and efficiency in moving cases toward trial, following the court’s instructions for moving forward quickly. So the government needs to contribute to this directive. Lejeune Plaintiffs’ Opposition Motion

The specific request for supplementation involves critical documents related to the prosecution of Track 1 Plaintiffs’ claims, which include military, VA, and medical records, among others. The Government’s initial response was non-cooperative, offering standard objections and refusing to produce documents crucial for the Plaintiffs’ claims. Despite efforts to resolve these issues without court intervention, the Government’s non-compliance has forced the Plaintiffs to formally request the court-enforced supplementation.

Given the Plaintiffs’ previous flexibility and the Government’s awareness of these requests since early October, there is no justifiable cause for further delays. The Plaintiffs argue that such extensions hinder their preparation for upcoming trials by limiting their time to review documents, conduct necessary follow-up discovery, and address potential disputes. They urge the Court to deny the Government’s request for what effectively amounts to an eight-month extension and to enforce prompt and thorough compliance with discovery obligations, emphasizing the immediate production of documents related to Requests 18-20 as mandated by Rule 26 and the case management orders

April 22, 2024 – Settlement Master

Camp Lejeune attorneys on both sides are interviewing candidates to suggest as potential Settlement Masters to help them find a path to a more reasonable global settlement plan.  Names will be provided to the court by Friday.

April 21, 2024 – Number of Outstanding Claims

There have been 1,740 lawsuits filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA). Among these, 25 cases have been dismissed, with21 being voluntary dismissals and the remaining four being pro se cases.  Over 16,000 new administrative claims have been filed with the Department of Navy, bringing the number to 190,561. There have been 40 Camp Lejeune settlements.  So 0.021% of these claims have settled.

April 19, 2024 – Deadline to Respond to Records Motion

Today is the deadline for plaintiffs’ lawyers to respond to the motion discussed on April 12th below.

The Lejeune litigation docket has been slow this week. Again, Camp Lejeune attorneys are really focused on getting individual lawsuits ready for trial. That requires less motions and more in-the-weeds discovery.

April 18, 2024 – Evidence Protocol

Plaintiffs’ Camp Lejeune attorneys asked the court yesterday to establish a protocol for the storage of individual plaintiffs’ evidence related to Camp Lejeune lawsuits.

The reason this depository is needed is that this litigation involves events spanning over seventy years, and relevant evidence includes tangible items, records, and documents existing or stored across various physical and virtual media, both old and new.  In 2024, most of this is just stored electronically. But converting other documents and evidence currently in tangible form may be infeasible or unduly costly and time-consuming.

This is a good idea that the government does not oppose.

April 17, 2024 – Opt-Out Dispute

The government has filed a motion requesting the reconsideration of an order which declined to strike the opt-out provision from future discovery tracks in the Camp Lejeune water litigation.

The government’s motion argues that attorneys for Camp Lejeune water contamination victims are exploiting the opt-out provision to significantly limit the number of plaintiffs available for discovery and trial, thus compromising the representativeness of the bellwether cases. The motion highlights that lawyers have opted out a substantial portion of eligible cases from Track 2, contrary to their initial assurance that they did not foresee the need for such opt-outs in future tracks.

The is concern is not uncommon.  It is a leitmotif in many MDLs.  But it is too late to complain now and it is important to balance the need for a perfectly representative pool – an impossible goal, anyway – with fairness to real people.

April 12, 2024 – Discovery Dispute

Plaintiffs have served document requests on the government.  The DOJ has asked the court for a blanket extension to respond.  The plaintiffs’ lawyers have said no because we do not want further delay.  The DOJ has filed a motion; victims’ lawyers have until next Friday to respond.  If history is an indication, it will not take that long.

April 8, 2024 – Single Disease Plaintiffs

Today, the government filed a motion asking the court to allow bellwether trials that only focus on diseases already recognized as associated with the Camp Lejeune water (“single disease plaintiffs”).

The government argues that cases in which plaintiffs claim multiple diseases or conditions not yet recognized as being associated with the water are inherently complex and require extensive medical and scientific evidence. Therefore, the government suggests these complex cases should be tried later.

So the government is asking for a new deadline for identifying which plaintiffs fall into each category, and the time for discovering expert evidence will be extended for the multiple-disease Plaintiffs.

I understand the government’s point here. There are two problems. First, it is late in the game to ask for this. Second, some of the most tragic cases involve multiple-disease plaintiffs. How is it fair to take them out of the pool?

The government also wants to live in a fantasy world where only the illnesses it thinks are related to the contaminated water at Camp Lejeune will be compensable.  The sooner it is divorced from this notion, the better.

April 4, 2024 – Call Your Camp Lejeune Attorney

Some Camp Lejeune victims have hired multiple lawyers for the same claim.  I have no idea why people do this, but it happens in every significant piece of litigation our attorneys see.

If you have done this, come clean and tell your lawyers now. Why? It may slow up the processing of any settlement offer you may receive.

April 2, 2024 – Status

Today’s status conference focused mostly on discovery issues. The next conference is on April 26, 2024.

April 1, 2024 – Comment Below

The comments section below answers many commonly answered questions about this litigation. There are also stories from other victims and what they have gone through as a result of this environmental disaster.

March 27, 2024 – Claims Number and Settlement Statistics

As of yesterday, 1,662 suits have been filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.  There are approximately 176,662 administrative claims filed with the Navy.

As for Camp Lejeune settlements, there are not many when you look at these numbers.  The Torts Branch has identified 51 cases in litigation that qualify for the Elective Option. The breakdown of cases by injury includes 14 cases of bladder cancer, 12 of kidney cancer, ten of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, five of kidney disease, four of Parkinson’s disease, four of leukemia, and two of multiple myeloma.

Twenty-one offers have been accepted by plaintiffs, including five cases of bladder cancer with settlements of $150,000, $150,000, $300,000, $300,000, and $450,000; four cases of kidney disease (end-stage renal disease) with settlements of $250,000, $250,000, $100,000, and $100,000; five cases of kidney cancer with settlements of $300,000, $300,000, $300,000, $300,000, and $150,000; three cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma with settlements of $150,000, $150,000, and $300,000; one case of multiple myeloma with a settlement of $250,000; two cases of Parkinson’s disease with settlements of $400,000 and $100,000; and one case of leukemia with a settlement of $300,000. Nine offers were rejected by plaintiffs, including cases of bladder cancer, kidney cancer, multiple myeloma, kidney disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Fifteen offers have expired, including cases of kidney cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bladder cancer, and leukemia. Six offers are pending.

Furthermore, the DOJ is also settling cases separate from the Torts Branch. It has approved offers for 59 claimants based on information provided by the Navy. Twenty-four settlement offers have been accepted, two have been rejected, 25 have expired, and eight offers are pending.

Payments have been sent for eight accepted settlement offers made by the Navy and eighteen accepted settlement offers from the DOJ, totaling $5,950,000.. Six cases of bladder cancer resulted in two payments of $300,000, three payments of $150,000, and one payment of $450,000. Four cases of leukemia resulted in three payments of $300,000 and one payment of $150,000. Three cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma resulted in one payment of $300,000 and two payments of $150,000. Three cases of Parkinson’s disease resulted in one payment of $400,000, one payment of $250,000, and one payment of $100,000. Five cases of kidney cancer resulted in four payments of $300,000 and one payment of $150,000. Three cases of kidney disease resulted in two payments of $100,000 and one payment of $250,000. One case of multiple myeloma resulted in a payment of $250,000.

All told, payments totaling $5,950,000 have been made for eight settlements offered by the Navy and eighteen by the DOJ, covering various conditions like bladder cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Parkinson’s disease, kidney cancer, kidney disease, and multiple myeloma, with amounts varying from $100,000 to $450,000.

Victim are understandably frustrated by the pace of process.  This is not what Congress intended.

March 25, 2024 – Updates

There was a status conference last week that went over the discovery disputes we have been talking about. The next conference is on April 2, 2024, which is a telephonic status hearing.

Many of you are coming here for regular updates and are not getting much information of late.  We are not asleep at the wheel.  The energy in the litigation right now is in getting cases ready for trial with pretrial discovery, which does not lend itself to as many updates.  We give these boring “there is a status conference” updates sometimes not so much that we think you care about the next status conference but to remind you we are putting all the relevant news our lawyers have.

We will keep you posted.  In the meantime, you can share any questions or thoughts you have in the comments section below.

March 14, 2024 – Camp Lejeune Settlement Payouts So Far

There are two entities within the government making settlement offers: the Torts Branch and the DOJ.

the Torts Branch confirmed that 50 cases in litigation qualify for the Elective Option (EO) based on document verification. These cases are categorized by injury as follows:

• 14 for Bladder Cancer
• 12 for Kidney Cancer
• 10 for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
• 5 for Kidney Disease
• 4 for Parkinson’s Disease
• 3 for Leukemia
• 2 for Multiple Myeloma

Settlement offers have been extended, with 18 accepted across various conditions, including $150,000 to $450,000 for Bladder Cancer, $100,000 to $250,000 for Kidney Disease (End Stage Renal Disease), $150,000 to $300,000 for Kidney Cancer, $150,000 for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, $250,000 for Multiple Myeloma, and $100,000 to $400,000 for Parkinson’s Disease. Nine offers were declined, and ten have expired across different diagnoses. Currently, 13 settlement offers are still pending.

Additionally, the DOJ has made settlement offers to 59 claimants based on Navy-provided information, with 24 being accepted, two rejected, 25 expired, and eight pending. Payments totaling $3.6 million have been disbursed for eight settlements from the Navy and seven from the DOJ, covering various conditions such as Bladder Cancer, Leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, Parkinson’s Disease, Kidney Cancer, and Kidney Disease, with amounts ranging from $100,000 to $400,000.

Is it too soon to call the Elective Option an utter failure? No.  They have only settled a fraction of a fraction of these lawsuits.  There needs to be a better plan.  The parties are actively working on developing both a questionnaire and a roadmap to facilitate a resolution. They also jointly proposed bringing on a lawyer to act as the Special Settlement Master.  There is a growing recognition that settlement efforts have to move forward more quickly.

March 13, 2024:  Case Count

We are now up to 1,633 Camp Lejeune lawsuits and 174,891 administrative claims.

March 11, 2024 – Status Conference

The court announced today the next status conference will be on March 19, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. in Wilmington.

March 8, 2024 – Moving Forward on Track 2 Discovery

Plaintiffs’ lawyers want to push the ball forward on Track 2 cases.  Again, Track 2 cases are:

1. Prostate Cancer
2. Liver Cancer
3. Lung Cancer
4. Breast Cancer
5. Kidney Disease

Plaintiffs want the court to remove the stay on cases within the Track 2 Discovery Pool and, upon selection of the Track 2 discovery plaintiffs, allow fact discovery for each plaintiff’s lawsuit to begin.

Of course, the government wants to delay. It proposes waiting to lift the stay on fact discovery for Track 2 illnesses after the selection of Track 1 bellwether trial cases.

March 5, 2024 – Pretrial Discovery Rules Established

Both sides have agreed to specific rules to make the pretrial discovery more efficient in the Camp Lejeune water contamination litigation. This agreement, approved by the court in new Case Management Order #11, includes several key points:

• To manage the large number of cases efficiently, the agreement allows the government the chance to conduct independent medical exams on plaintiffs who have been examined by a medical expert for the purpose of giving testimony, hired by the plaintiffs’ lawyers. This right to what our lawyers call a “defense medical exam” is a right that defendants have in personal injury cases. But for the sake of speeding up the process, the government will skip its own medical exams of a plaintiff if that plaintiff agrees not to use their own exams for expert testimony in court.
• The plaintiffs’ attorneys have agreed to give early notice to the United States about any medical exams they plan for their clients by experts who will testify in court. This is to prevent the United States from having to request many defense expert exams that might not be needed, which always slows things down.
• The plaintiffs must inform the Navy as soon as they are certain that an expert who has examined a plaintiff will testify on behalf of that plaintiff. This notice needs to be given before the medical exam if they already know the expert will testify. If an expert initially considered as a consulting (non-testifying) expert is later decided to be a testifying expert, the plaintiffs’ attorneys must promptly notify the United States.
• This agreement does not cover ongoing treatments by plaintiffs’ regular healthcare providers or consultations with non-testifying expert witnesses.
• The agreement applies to any physical or mental examination under the legal rules, whether ordered by the court or not, except for expert meetings with a plaintiff that do not involve such examinations.

This stipulation is designed to streamline the handling of numerous lawsuits by reducing the number of medical exams and expert testimonies. This makes the legal process more efficient for both parties and helps us get more cases to trial faster.

February 28, 2024 – Camp Lejeune Settlement News

This is the latest government report on Camp Lejeune settlements:

As of February 27, 2024, the Torts Branch has identified that forty-eight (48) cases in litigation satisfy the Elective Option (“EO”) criteria, as confirmed through documentary evidence.

The distribution of these cases by type of injury is as follows: 13 instances of Bladder Cancer, 12 of Kidney Cancer, 10 of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, 5 of Kidney Disease, 3 of Parkinson’s Disease, 3 of Leukemia, and 2 of Multiple Myeloma.

In terms of settlement offers, seventeen (17) have been accepted by plaintiffs, including 5 cases of Bladder Cancer with settlements totaling $150,000, $150,000, $300,000, $300,000, and $450,000; 3 cases of Kidney Disease (End Stage Renal Disease) with settlements of $250,000, $100,000, and $100,000; 5 cases of Kidney Cancer with settlements totaling $300,000, $300,000, $300,000, $300,000, and $150,000; 2 cases of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with settlements of $150,000 each; 1 case of Multiple Myeloma with a settlement of $250,000; and 1 case of Parkinson’s Disease with a settlement of $400,000

Additionally, seven (7) offers were rejected by plaintiffs, encompassing four cases of Bladder Cancer, one case of Kidney Cancer, one case of Multiple Myeloma, and one case of Kidney Disease. Eight (8) offers have expired, involving three cases of Kidney Cancer, two cases of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, two cases of Bladder Cancer, and one case of Leukemia. Sixteen (16) other settlement offers are currently pending.

Furthermore, the DOJ has endorsed offers for fifty-eight (58) claimants based on information provided by the Navy, with twenty-four (24) of these offers being accepted, two (2) rejected, twenty-five (25) expired, and seven (7) still pending. Payments have been issued for eight accepted settlement offers from the Navy and seven accepted offers from the DOJ, amounting to a total of $3,600,000.

This total includes payments for five cases of Bladder Cancer (two payments of $300,000 and three of $150,000), four cases of Leukemia (three payments of $300,000 and one of $150,000), two cases of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (one payment of $300,000 and one of $150,000), two cases of Parkinson’s Disease (one payment of $400,000 and one of $250,000), one case of Kidney Cancer (a payment of $300,000), and one case of Kidney Disease (a payment of $100,000).

It is time we pronounce the Elective Option plan dead on arrival.  We have 170,000 claims.

I think the government now understands this and is looking at different paths to settlement.  Certainly, the judges will do everything they can to help push this ball forward.  The last thing the court wants is 170,000 lawsuits filed in their district in the next six months.

February 27, 2024 – Updated Statistics

As of today, 1,530 Camp Lejeune lawsuits have been filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.  Among these, fifteen cases have been dismissed, with twelve being voluntary dismissals and the remaining three being pro se cases. The lawsuits are pretty evenly distributed by the four judges in the Eastern District of North Carolina.

There are approximately 170,502 administrative claims currently on file with the Navy.

February 26, 2024 – Track 2 Diseases Are Set

There has been a lot of speculation over which cancers/diseases would be included in Track 2.  We now have the answer:

1. Prostate Cancer
2. Liver Cancer
3. Lung Cancer
4. Breast Cancer
5. Kidney Disease

We estimate these five conditions make up about 25% of the Camp Lejeune claims that have been made.

The court is quick to point out that the choice of specific cases for early trial is not based on a determination of how strong these claims are one way or the other.  Instead, the judges say this selection aims at identifying diseases that, if addressed early in trial settings, could facilitate the settlement of frequently occurring illnesses. The hope is for early settlements or verdicts for certain groups of illnesses, providing quicker resolutions for victims, a goal the judges do seem to have firmly in mind.

The parties are directed to present a discovery plan proposal for the illnesses categorized under Track 2, either together or separately, within ten days following this order.

February 15, 2024 – Jury Trial Appeal

Plaintiffs are appealing the February 6, 2024, order that dismissed all jury trial demands in lawsuits filed under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

Plaintiffs argue that the court’s decision raises a significant question of law regarding the entitlement of plaintiffs to a jury trial. This matter presents substantial grounds for a difference of opinion due to its novelty and complexity. They contend that an immediate appeal could significantly advance the litigation process, potentially saving extensive judicial and party resources.

How do we avoid this slowing down the litigation? This appeal is only filed on behalf of two cases. So, this approach does not affect the right of other plaintiffs to seek an appeal after a final judgment. The idea is that the court would only be restricted from revisiting the order for those two cases but would maintain its ability to oversee trials and keep this litigation on track.

The government may argue that because these rulings obviously would apply to all Camp Lejeune lawsuits, the whole litigation should be delayed.  But that is unlikely to fly. These judges seem committed to trials this year.