Updates

As the last of the bellwether trials in the Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) multi-district litigation (MDL) begins, the process to dismantle the administrative docket of unvetted, unverified claims in this litigation continued. On Friday, May 6, two orders issued by the MDL judge dismissed more than 20,000 claims that had been sitting on the administrative docket. These cases will remain dismissed unless plaintiffs provide information critical to the claims and defenses involved in this litigation.

Because the vast majority of claims remain on an administrative docket, plaintiffs’ lawyers are not bound by typical filing requirements. There is currently no way to know how many filers of these claims will complete the necessary steps to revive their claims, much less reach trial.

3M supports recent efforts, like these orders, by the MDL court to help prevent potentially frivolous lawsuits and to remove existing claims without merit. Requiring expedient vetting could help provide greater certainty into the actual number of cases in the MDL.