In addition to the growing number of Tylenol autism lawsuits in the class action MDL in federal court, there is a large group of these cases also pending in state courts (mostly in California) that are not part of the MDL.

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MDL Judge Denise Cote recently issued an Order outlining how discovery in the federal court cases in the MDL should be coordinated with ongoing discovery in parallel Tylenol autism lawsuit in state courts. The Order essentially gives the state court the option of piggybacking off of the consolidated discovery efforts in the MDL for purposes of greater efficiency.

Lawyers on both sides for the time of retailer defendant discovery on Monday.  As you would expect, plaintiffs’ lawyers want to move quickly, and defense lawyers want to slow down.  Judge Cote wasted no time setting up a hearing on the dispute for today.  The stakes here are not significant – plaintiffs’ lawyers want defendants to identify custodians of records and produce some documents within 30 days, and defendants want more time – but how these disputes resolve sets a tone for what the pace of the litigation will be.

The judge in the Tylenol autism class action MDL announced a discovery plan focusing on the causation evidence linking prenatal exposure to acetaminophen to autism.

During “Phase One” of the consolidated discovery plan, Johnson & Johnson (the original developer of Tylenol) will produce documents relevant to prenatal acetaminophen exposure risks.

Plaintiffs will also get responses to written questions on that topic. This discovery plan aims to start the long process of vetting the scientific evidence before these cases go to trial.