Emerging Mass Tort Monitor

‍Developments Through September 2026

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Mass torts can develop when large numbers of individuals allege similar injuries arising from the same product, substance, practice or course of conduct. Unlike a traditional class action, individual mass-tort claims generally remain separate, but they may be coordinated through federal multidistrict litigation (MDL), state-court proceedings or other case-management structures.¹ As the number of claims grows, these matters can create significant challenges involving defense coordination, reserving, legal spend, coverage and long-term exposure.

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For insurers and claims organizations, the challenge is often recognizing when isolated claims or emerging liability theories are beginning to develop mass-tort characteristics. New scientific findings, regulatory actions, coordinated litigation, adverse rulings or accelerating claimant activity can all signal that an exposure deserves closer review before it reaches mature mass-tort scale.

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Alan Gray's Emerging Mass-Tort Monitor provides a monthly view of developing exposures, highlighting meaningful changes in litigation activity, case volume and other indicators of rising risk. The Monitor focuses on developments that could influence claim severity, reserving, litigation strategy and legal spend.

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Key Takeaways:

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• Several established litigations continue to expand. Depo-Provera, GLP-1, Uber passenger sexual assault and social-media adolescent addiction litigation all remain significant coordinated exposures.²
• Procedural developments can be as important as case growth. PFAS firefighter turnout-gear litigation moved from a proposed proceeding to a new federal MDL, creating a more formal structure for coordinated litigation.³
• Emerging exposures do not always begin with large case inventories. Artificial-stone silicosis and developing AI-related personal-injury theories illustrate why verdict activity, regulatory attention and coordinated proceedings also deserve monitoring.⁶ ⁹

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Emerging Mass-Tort Exposure Tracker

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The following table provides a snapshot of selected exposures currently being tracked by Alan Gray. It compares current federal MDL inventories with prior-month, year-to-date and one-year levels where comparable data are available, while also identifying the current monitoring status of each exposure. The purpose is not to rank potential liability, but to highlight areas where litigation activity deserves closer attention from insurers and claims organizations.

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Developments to Watch

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Depo-Provera

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Depo-Provera has become one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical MDLs in the Monitor, with 6,403 pending federal actions and YTD growth of approximately 265%.² Recent case-management activity has also included the appointment of a settlement administrator and continuing expert proceedings.⁴

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• Why it matters: the combination of rapid inventory growth and advancing case-management activity can place additional demands on defense coordination, reserve development and legal-spend oversight. Expert rulings and settlement-related developments may now become more important indicators of potential severity than filing growth alone.

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GLP-1 Litigation

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GLP-1 litigation is developing along more than one injury pathway. The gastrointestinal MDL now has 4,022 pending actions, up approximately 31% YTD, while the separate NAION/vision proceeding has grown from 29 pending actions at the beginning of 2026 to 216, an increase of roughly 645% YTD.²

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• Why it matters: different alleged injuries involving the same product class can create distinct scientific, valuation and defense issues. Claims organizations may need to monitor not only overall volume but also how the mix of injury allegations is changing.

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PFAS Firefighter Turnout Gear

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PFAS turnout-gear litigation reached a new stage in August with the creation of MDL No. 3191 in the District of Minnesota. The proceeding had 8 pending actions as of September 1, so a meaningful YTD or one-year comparison is not yet available.² ³

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• Why it matters: creation of the MDL gives these claims a formal structure for coordination and could make future growth easier to identify. It also extends PFAS-related litigation into another product category beyond traditional AFFF and environmental claims.

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Hair Relaxer Products

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Hair relaxer litigation reached 12,129 pending federal actions, up approximately 11% YTD.² Arizona also filed a state enforcement action involving allegations that cancer risks associated with chemical hair relaxers were concealed from consumers.⁵

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• Why it matters: renewed litigation growth combined with government enforcement adds another source of pressure beyond private product-liability litigation. Regulatory activity can also affect discovery, public attention and future claimant activity.

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Uber Passenger Sexual Assault Litigation

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Uber passenger sexual-assault litigation has grown to 4,588 pending federal actions, up approximately 49% YTD and 78% over the past year.²

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• Why it matters: although the underlying claims differ from traditional pharmaceutical or medical-device mass torts, the scale of coordinated litigation can create similar operational challenges. Large inventories can increase demands involving defense strategy, reserving, settlement planning and legal-spend control.

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Social Media Adolescent Addiction

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Social-media adolescent-addiction litigation now includes 3,208 pending federal actions, up approximately 43% YTD and 64% over the past year.²

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• Why it matters: these claims are testing how traditional personal-injury concepts apply to technology and media companies. Future rulings involving causation, duty and platform responsibility could shape both this litigation and other digital-injury claims.

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Artificial-Stone Silicosis

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Artificial-stone silicosis is developing largely outside the federal MDL system, so there is no comparable federal pending-action data. State-court litigation, severe occupational-disease allegations and regulatory attention nevertheless keep the exposure on the Monitor. A significant Colorado verdict in 2026 and continued regulatory attention to silica exposure in engineered-stone fabrication illustrate the potential severity of the underlying claims.⁶ ⁷

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• Why it matters: long latency periods, multiple defendants and historical insurance programs can complicate trigger, allocation, defense responsibility and long-tail reserving. A lack of federal coordination should not be read as evidence of limited potential exposure.

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Emerging Exposure to Watch: AI-Related Personal Injury

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AI-related litigation is appearing with increasing frequency, although it has not yet developed into a mature mass-tort exposure. A 2026 academic review identified 559 U.S. federal court opinions in which AI played a role in the parties' contentions, although most did not involve personal injury.⁸

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More relevant to emerging tort risk, wrongful-death and product-liability theories involving AI systems and chatbots have begun to appear. California has established a coordinated proceeding involving multiple ChatGPT-related product-liability actions, while other litigation has raised similar injury theories involving competing AI platforms.⁹ ¹⁰

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• Why it matters: AI could create a different form of mass-tort exposure—one tied to common software behavior, product design or algorithmic outputs rather than a traditional physical product. Repeated bodily-injury theories, broader coordinated proceedings or a future federal MDL petition would be important signals that the exposure is becoming more systemic.

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How Alan Gray Can Help

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Emerging mass-tort exposures can create claims, litigation and cost-management challenges well before ultimate liability is clear. Alan Gray helps claims organizations by:

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• Evaluating claim inventories and emerging exposure trends
• Reviewing litigation strategy, outside-counsel performance and legal spend
• Supporting reserve, exposure and claim-handling analysis
• Providing independent oversight of complex or high-severity claims

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Earlier visibility. Stronger oversight. Better-informed claims decisions.

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Methodology

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Alan Gray monitors federal multidistrict litigation, state and federal court developments, regulatory actions, scientific research, verdicts and other publicly available information. Federal case-count comparisons generally use Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation pending-action figures.² Because pending inventories can also change through dismissal, settlement, remand or other disposition, increases or decreases should not be interpreted solely as new case filings.

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Federal MDL figures are based on Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation pending-action data through September 1, 2026. Monthly comparisons use August 3, 2026 as the baseline, year-to-date comparisons use January 5, 2026, and one-year comparisons use September 2, 2025.²

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Citations

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1. Legal Information Institute. "Mass Tort." Wex, Cornell Law School, July 2020, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/mass_tort. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
2. United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. MDL Statistics Report: Distribution of Pending MDL Dockets by Actions Pending. Reports dated 1 Sept. 2026, 3 Aug. 2026, 5 Jan. 2026, and 2 Sept. 2025. https://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/pending-mdls-0. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
3. United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. In re Firefighter Turnout Gear Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3191. Panel Orders, 2026, https://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/panel-orders. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
4. United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida. "Depo-Provera Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3140 Orders by Date." https://www.flnd.uscourts.gov/mdl3140-orders-by-date. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
5. Pierson, Brendan. "Arizona Accuses L'Oreal of Concealing Cancer Risks Linked to Hair Relaxers." Reuters, 11 Sept. 2026, https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/arizona-accuses-loreal-concealing-cancer-risks-linked-hair-relaxers-2026-09-11/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
6. Swan, Ingrid. "Silicosis Litigation and Engineered Stone: An Emerging Area of Mass Tort Exposure." Verus, 2026, https://verusllc.com/articles/case-management/silicosis-litigation-and-engineered-stone-an-emerging-area-of-mass-tort-exposure/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
7. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "July 14, 2026: Did You Know? Silica Dust and Engineered Stone Countertops." U.S. Department of Labor, 14 July 2026, https://www.osha.gov/quicktakes/071426. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
8. Yu, Julie, et al. "Visible to the Court: How AI Is (and Isn't) Litigated in U.S. Federal Court Opinions." arXiv, 26 July 2026, https://arxiv.org/abs/2607.23888. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
9. Judicial Council of California. Civil Case Coordination Proceeding (JCCP) Log. Entry for JCCP No. 5431, ChatGPT Product Liability Cases, 2026, https://courts.ca.gov/courts/superior-courts/civil-case-coordination. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.
10. Stempel, Jonathan. "Lawsuit Says Google's Gemini AI Chatbot Drove Man to Suicide." Reuters, 4 Mar. 2026, https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/lawsuit-says-googles-gemini-ai-chatbot-drove-man-suicide-2026-03-04/. Accessed 15 Sept. 2026.

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