JPML Denies Petition to Create Baby Food MDL, Suggests Parties Let Attempts to ‘Self-Organize Play Out’

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has rejected the opportunity to create a coordinated multidistrict litigation docket for claims accusing baby food manufactures of selling products contaminated with heavy metals.

The JPML denied the petition on June 7, opining that at a general level, the actions are similar, but that the Panel has been cautious when “considering industry-wide centralization.”

“Given the relatively minimal number of common factual questions, the potential for a multi-defendant MDL to introduce added complexity to this litigation, and the strong opposition of numerous plaintiffs and defendants, we are not persuaded that …