Articles Posted in Paraquat

Paraquat is a commercial-grade herbicide used in the agriculture industry. Over the last decade, new scientific research has shown that frequent use or exposure to Paraquat can increase the risk of Parkinson’s disease. This discovery has prompted thousands of Paraquat lawsuits by individuals who used or were around Paraquat in an occupation setting and subsequently developed Parkinson’s disease.

The Paraquat lawsuits were consolidated into a class action MDL in the Southern District of Illinois (In re: Paraquat Prod. Liab. Lit. – 3:21-MD-3004).  The Paraquat MDL is now heading into its 3rd year and 2024 could potentially be a pivotal year for this mass tort. The first round of bellwether test trials were basically canceled after the MDL Judge excluded most of the plaintiffs’ key expert witness testimony. Now the parties are quickly preparing a new group of test cases for bellwether trials, which probably won’t happen until early 2025 (or even later).

This page talks about where this litigation is in June 2024, and what we can expect moving forward.

Paraquat is a heavy-duty herbicide widely used in commercial farming in the U.S. for decades. Recent scientific research has shown that chronic exposure to Paraquat can significantly increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

The emergence of this evidence has led to thousands of former farmers filing Paraquat lawsuits alleging that their occupational exposure to the herbicide caused them to develop Parkinson’s disease.

The Paraquat product liability lawsuits have been consolidated into a class action MDL that has been ongoing for the last two years. In this post, we will look back at how the Paraquat litigation unfolded, the current status of this ongoing mass tort, and what to expect from the Paraquat litigation in 2023.