The first thing to know about any legal proceeding is that the process takes some time. Unfortunately, you should plan on this process taking years to be completed. We realize that this can be a shock given the hardships you have encountered but we would ask you to be patient and know that your legal team attempts to resolve these cases as quickly as possible.

If you are interested in joining our litigation to hold drug companies accountable, our legal team will need to first ensure that you meet the qualifications for us to file a lawsuit on your behalf.

Once you are qualified, we will then start the process of gathering all the required materials that provide support for your case. This could include medical records, the diagnosis of your child’s Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), purchasing records of the product that contained acetaminophen, any notes you might have regarding your doctor’s recommendation that you take acetaminophen during your pregnancy, records that reflect any costs associated with taking care your child, or additional materials that we suggest.

While we are gathering your records, we will prepare and file your lawsuit. The state in which we file will depend entirely upon external factors. Because tens of thousands of women took pain relief medication that contains acetaminophen during pregnancy and later had children who were diagnosed with ASD, we expect a flood of cases to be filed across the country.

On September 29, 2022, the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (JPML) held a hearing to determine if the numerous acetaminophen cases filed in various Federal Districts Courts should be consolidated into one Multi-District Litigation (MDL).

One week after the hearing, on October 5, the JPML issued its ruling that in order to “serve the convenience of the parties and witness and promote the just and efficient conduct” of the litigation,” the cases would be consolidated into a federal MDL in the Southern District of New York in front of Federal Judge Denise Cote. The MDL is refered to as In re: Acetaminophen ASD/ADHD Prod. Liab. Lit., MDL No. 3043.

After we file your case, we will send you a copy of the lawsuit that we have filed on your behalf. Thereafter, we will engage in an active process with the defendants known as discovery. This process can time consuming and involves both sides sharing information with one another– sometimes information is shared voluntarily but many times this process will require a judge’s involvement to force the Defendants to disclose information pertinent to the case. During this time, we will also be taking depositions of the drug companies' executives or consultants. These interviews are recorded, and the interviewees must answer questions under oath with the penalty of perjury in place. If they lie, they could be held accountable in court.

Also, during the discovery phase, we will be seeking company records that will support our claims that the drug companies knew about the risks to babies in utero associated with taking acetaminophen during pregnancy.

As we are conducting discovery, we will seek to get the Judges in the MDL or in the state consolidated proceedings to set a trial date for what we call bellwether cases. These cases are the first trials that the plaintiffs and defendants use to see how a jury might respond to the case. We will always be prepared to try a case, but we also believe that setting the first trial date puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the drug companies to settle these cases.