Chaffin Luhana Founder Appointed to Leadership Role In National Paraquat Litigation
New York, NY, July 9, 2021 – Chaffin Luhana LLP, a national plaintiffs-only law firm, is pleased to announce that Founding Partner Roopal P. Luhana has been appointed by Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy J. Rosenstengel to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee (PEC) in the In re: Paraquat Products Liability Litigation.
The Paraquat MDL was established by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) on June 6, 2021. All federally filed Paraquat lawsuits are now consolidated (and future federal cases will be transferred) to Judge Rosenstengel in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, where pre-trial proceedings will take place under MDL No. 3004.
“I am honored to be chosen by Judge Rosenstengel to help lead this important litigation on behalf of plaintiffs whose lives have been forever altered after exposure to Paraquat and feel this really is a recognition of the exemplary work the women and men in our law firm do every day for all of our clients,” said Ms. Luhana. “My firm and I believe that those responsible for our clients’ suffering should be held accountable and we are ready to take on that fight.”
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Ms. Luhana has served on a number of steering committees in important litigations over the past decade, including most recently having been appointed by U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) in the In re: Zantac (Ranitidine) Products Liability Litigation (S.D.FL.).
“Part of Chaffin Luhana’s mission is to lead in industry-impacting litigations as we have done for over a decade, and Ms. Luhana’s appointment is yet another opportunity to do so,” says Chaffin Luhana Managing Partner, Eric Chaffin. “The Court has set the first trial for fall of 2022, and we are eager to get this case in front of a jury.”
Presently, there are over 90 paraquat lawsuits that have been filed in various courts across the country. Paraquat, a commonly used herbicide in the U.S. and around the world, has been the focus of growing concern over its potential link to negative health effects, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Recent studies have suggested that people exposed to the herbicide may have a higher risk of PD, particularly those who were exposed to it for long periods.
In July of 2017, the Unified Parkinson’s Advocacy Council submitted a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in which it noted, “Recent research links paraquat and several other herbicides to the development of Parkinson’s pathology and symptoms.” In the letter, the Unified Parkinson’s Advocacy Council urged the EPA to ban the use of the herbicide in the U.S., which the agency has not done as of the posting of this press release.
Chaffin Luhana is currently investigating cases in which clients used paraquat and then were diagnosed with PD or other similar health problems.