Second Wave of Valsartan Cancer Lawsuits To Be Ready for Bellwether Trials by January 2026

After the first Valsartan bellwether trials begin in September 2025, lawyers are expected to prepare for “Wave 2” Valsartan cancer lawsuits to go before a jury.

With the first federal bellwether trial scheduled to start this fall, the U.S. District Judge presiding over all federal Valsartan cancer lawsuits indicates that a second “wave” of early test cases should be prepared to go before juries by January 2026, although no specific trial dates have been set in those claims.

The manufacturers of Valsartan currently face more than 1,300 product liability lawsuits filed throughout the federal court system, each involving similar allegations that former users of the generic blood pressure drug developed various forms of cancer, including liver cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, esophageal cancer and various other malignancies.

The litigation emerged after a series of Valsartan recalls were issued by various generic drug makers in 2018, following the discovery that changes to the drug manufacturing process had caused cancer-causing chemicals to contaminate versions of the hypertension drug.

With all of the claims raising common questions of fact and law, a federal Valsartan cancer lawsuit MDL (multidistrict litigation) was established in the District of New Jersey, where U.S. District Judge Renee M. Bumb has been overseeing coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

To help the parties gauge how juries may respond to certain evidence and testimony that will be repeated throughout the lawsuits, Judge Bumb has established a “bellwether” process, where small groups of representative claims are being prepared for trial, with the first Valsartan cancer lawsuit bellwether trial scheduled to begin in September 2025.

However, as new claims continue to be filed by former users who recently developed various different forms of cancer, the Court is expected to put a second “wave” of cases before juries next year.

“Wave 2” Valsartan Cancer Lawsuit Trials

It is hoped that the outcomes of that first round of bellwether trials will help pave the way for a Valsartan cancer settlement agreement, but if not, Judge Bumb has directed the parties to have a second group of Valsartan lawsuits ready for additional bellwether trials.

In May 2025, the Court identified four Valsartan recall lawsuits that will serve as the “Wave 2” bellwether cases, including claims brought by Robert Garcia, Robert Lee, Evan Smalls and James Suits. Judge Bumb also included a partial schedule for key deadlines at that time, but no trial dates.

On June 16, retired Judge Thomas J. Vanaskie, who is serving as a Special Master to help mediate between the plaintiffs and the defendants, issued an amended schedule (PDF) pushing back several previous dates about a month. For example, parties now have until September 19 for the close of fact discovery, which was originally slated for August 20.

The schedule sets the deadline to file motions to dismiss the other sides’ expert witnesses, and to request summary judgments, for October 8. Rulings on those motions would likely be issued in December, shortly after which Judge Vanaskie indicates that the parties should be ready to propose which of the Wave 2 cases should go to trial first, with a joint final pretrial order tentatively set for January 15, 2026.

While the outcome of these Valsartan lawsuit bellwether trials will not have any binding impact on other remaining claims, they will be closely watched and the average payouts awarded by juries could influence how much the drug makers may have to pay to settle each individual Valsartan cancer claim.

Following the second wave of bellwether trials, if agreements are not reached to resolve large numbers of claims pending in the Valsartan MDL, it is expected that Judge Bumb may begin remanding large numbers of claims back to U.S. District Courts nationwide for individual trial dates throughout the federal court system in the coming years.