Hair Relaxer MDL Judge Orders Parties to Select 40 Bellwether Claims

CHICAGO — The judge overseeing the MDL docket for hair relaxer cancer cases has ordered the parties to select 40 bellwether claims from more than 6,500 lawsuits in which plaintiffs allege they developed uterine, endometrial and ovarian cancer after using the products.

In the Jan. 31 order, Judge Mary Rowland of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois explained that while the parties have always agreed that 16 cases would be selected for bellwether discovery, that number is “far too low.”

“Preparing only five cases for trial runs the risk of these cases resolving short of …