There is no single multiple myeloma class action lawsuit that covers everyone diagnosed with the disease. People with multiple myeloma pursue compensation through several different legal channels depending on how they were exposed, and almost all of these claims move forward as individual lawsuits or as part of multidistrict litigation rather than as traditional class actions. The one prominent exception involves the pricing of multiple myeloma drugs, not the disease itself.
Which path fits your situation depends on where the exposure happened: firefighting foam, a military base, a Vietnam-era deployment, the 9/11 attacks, an industrial workplace, a sterilization plant nearby, or a pharmacy counter.
Why Multiple Myeloma Cases Are Rarely Class Actions
Multiple myeloma has a long latency period, often appearing decades after the first toxic exposure. Each person’s exposure history, dose, work environment, and medical history differ, and plaintiffs typically have to present expert testimony from oncologists, toxicologists, and epidemiologists to connect a specific chemical to their diagnosis. Those individualized facts make class certification difficult, so cases are usually filed one by one. When filings grow large enough, courts consolidate them in a multidistrict litigation (MDL) for pretrial purposes, but each case keeps its own identity and can go to trial on its own if it does not settle.
Common legal theories include negligence, strict products liability, and failure to warn. Which one applies depends on the relationship between you and the defendant, and many jurisdictions apply a discovery rule that starts the statute of limitations when a patient could reasonably have connected the diagnosis to the exposure, not at the date of first contact with the substance.
AFFF Firefighting Foam (MDL 2873)
The largest active proceeding involving multiple myeloma is the litigation over aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), used for decades by military and civilian firefighters. The foams contain PFAS, and multiple myeloma is among the diagnoses for which exposed individuals may file claims.1TorHoerman Law. AFFF Multiple Myeloma Lawsuit
Personal injury cases are consolidated in MDL 2873 in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina before Judge Richard M. Gergel.2TorHoerman Law. What Is the AFFF MDL More than 15,200 personal injury cases were pending in the MDL as of mid-2026.3Drugwatch. AFFF Firefighting Foam Lawsuits Defendants include 3M, DuPont, Chemours, Tyco Fire Products, Kidde Firefighting, and National Foam.1TorHoerman Law. AFFF Multiple Myeloma Lawsuit
No personal injury settlements have been reached. A bellwether trial on kidney cancer was taken off the October 2025 calendar and has not been rescheduled, and a pool of 28 bellwether cases covering kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and ulcerative colitis is in case-specific discovery.3Drugwatch. AFFF Firefighting Foam Lawsuits4MDL Update. MDL 2873 Aqueous Film Forming Foams Attorneys on both sides anticipate a possible global personal injury resolution in 2026 or 2027.5Lawsuit Information Center. AFFF Firefighting Foam Lawsuit
Multi-billion-dollar AFFF settlements with 3M ($12.5 billion), DuPont and related entities ($1.185 billion), and Tyco ($750 million) have already closed, but those resolved claims by public water systems, not by individuals with cancer.6Napoli Shkolnik. AFFF Lawsuits7TorHoerman Law. Firefighting Foam Cancer Settlement Amounts Guide3Drugwatch. AFFF Firefighting Foam Lawsuits These are projections, not confirmed figures.
Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
Multiple myeloma has special status in Camp Lejeune litigation. The water supply at the Marine Corps base in North Carolina was contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, vinyl chloride, and benzene, from the 1950s through the 1980s. The VA treats multiple myeloma as one of eight presumptive conditions for veterans and family members who were at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, which means you do not have to prove the water caused the disease.8U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
Separately, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (Section 804 of the 2022 PACT Act) created a right to file administrative claims with the Department of the Navy and, if necessary, lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Under the Navy’s Elective Option for faster processing, multiple myeloma is a Tier 2 condition.9Triage Cancer. Camp Lejeune Act The deadline to file new lawsuits under the Act was August 11, 2024. Filing a legal claim does not block VA benefits, though any court-ordered award is reduced by related VA benefits already received.8U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
Agent Orange, Burn Pits, and Other Military Exposures
If you served in Vietnam, the Korean DMZ, Thailand, or other locations where tactical herbicides were used, multiple myeloma is a presumptive condition for VA disability purposes. You need to show a qualifying diagnosis and service in a covered location, not a direct medical link between the herbicide and the cancer.10U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Agent Orange Exposure The scientific basis is a National Academy of Sciences finding of “limited/suggestive evidence” of an association between herbicide exposure and multiple myeloma.11U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Multiple Myeloma and Agent Orange
The 2022 PACT Act widened the universe of covered veterans. Service members in Southwest Asia, the Persian Gulf, or specified Middle Eastern and Central Asian locations on or after August 2, 1990, who were exposed to burn pits now also qualify for presumptive service connection for multiple myeloma. Active multiple myeloma under treatment receives a 100% rating that continues for six months after treatment ends, with the VA then evaluating residual symptoms.12Hill and Ponton. Agent Orange VA Disability Claims Multiple Myeloma
9/11 Victim Compensation Fund
Multiple myeloma is a recognized condition under the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. First responders, cleanup workers, downtown Manhattan residents, office workers, and students who were in the 9/11 exposure zone between September 11, 2001, and May 30, 2002, may qualify for free lifetime medical care and tax-free compensation. The VCF requires a minimum latency of 146 days between exposure and diagnosis for multiple myeloma. The base non-economic cancer award is up to $250,000, with total awards rising when lost earnings and other economic losses are factored in; one reported award for a totally disabled security director reached $1.3 million.13911 Victim Lawyer. 9/11 Multiple Myeloma The VCF filing deadline extends to October 1, 2090.14WTC Victim Fund. 9/11 VCF Payouts
Benzene and Workplace Exposure Claims
Benzene, found in petroleum products, industrial solvents, and diesel exhaust, has been implicated in multiple myeloma for decades. Mechanics, oil refinery workers, chemical plant workers, and other industrial employees file individual lawsuits — not class actions — alleging that chronic benzene exposure caused their disease. These cases depend heavily on expert testimony to establish occupational causation, and the long latency between exposure and diagnosis is a defining challenge.
A few verdicts show the range of outcomes:
- In 2024, a Santa Barbara County jury returned a $63 million verdict (including $41 million in punitive damages) in Wright v. Union Oil Co. of California, where Kevin Wright developed multiple myeloma 27 years after living for two years above a benzene-contaminated chemical sump pit. The defendant, owned by Chevron, has filed cross-appeals.15The Lyon Firm. $63 Million Jury Award for a Man Who Developed Cancer
- In 2000, a $6.9 million verdict went to three California diesel mechanics exposed to benzene-containing floor coating products in the early 1990s; one was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and died in 1993.16Benzene Lawyers. Multiple Myeloma Benzene
- In 1996, a Rhode Island tree sprayer won a $1 million verdict alleging that a Dow-manufactured herbicide caused his multiple myeloma.16Benzene Lawyers. Multiple Myeloma Benzene
Other mechanics, pipe fitters, and industrial workers in Louisiana and California have reached confidential settlements for multiple myeloma linked to benzene-containing solvents and fuels.16Benzene Lawyers. Multiple Myeloma Benzene
Railroad Workers (FELA)
Railroad employees pursue their claims under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, which requires proof that the railroad’s negligence contributed to the illness. These are individual cases, not class actions, and typically involve long-term exposure to diesel exhaust, benzene, creosote, organic solvents, herbicides, and welding fumes in yards, cabs, and repair shops.17Consumer Notice. Railroad Cancer Lawsuit One documented example, Peter M. v. Long Island Railroad Company, was filed in the Southern District of New York in 2018 by an electrician who alleged that 16 years of workplace exposure caused his multiple myeloma.18Top Class Actions. Multiple Myeloma Lawsuit Seeks Compensation for Railroad Worker
Ethylene Oxide Exposure
Ethylene oxide, a gas used to sterilize medical equipment, has driven growing litigation by communities near sterilization plants. Multiple myeloma is among the cancers health experts have connected to ethylene oxide inhalation.19TruLaw. Ethylene Oxide Lawsuit
In January 2023, Sterigenics agreed to pay $408 million to settle more than 870 lawsuits over emissions from its facility in Willowbrook, Illinois.20Modern Healthcare. Sterigenics Ethylene Oxide Cases Willowbrook Illinois Other outcomes include a $363 million Illinois jury verdict in a breast cancer case and a $20 million compensatory verdict in a Georgia case tied to sterilization plants.21YourLawyer.com. Ethylene Oxide Cancer Lawsuits In New Jersey, at least 300 lawsuits — including two class actions — have been filed against Cosmed Group Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024.22NJ Lawyers. Ethylene Oxide Lawsuit Separately, Cathy Flint sued Union Carbide (a Dow Chemical subsidiary) in Kanawha County, West Virginia, alleging that the company’s ethylene oxide emissions caused her multiple myeloma; as of mid-2024, Union Carbide said it was prepared to defend the complaint.23Stars and Stripes. Lawsuits Mount Chemical Linked Cancer
Roundup and Glyphosate
Multiple myeloma has been alleged in Roundup litigation but with far less traction than non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma claims. A 2019 study in the Journal of Hematology and Oncology reported that glyphosate induced monoclonal gammopathy and promoted multiple myeloma in mice, identifying a mechanism that appears tissue-specific to multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.24Wisner Baum. Roundup Cancer Study Even so, most law firms have declined multiple myeloma Roundup cases and focused on non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which has produced verdicts above $80 million in individual trials. People with Roundup-related multiple myeloma have reported difficulty finding attorneys willing to take the case.
The One True Class Action: Revlimid and Thalomid Pricing
If you are searching for a class action because you have been paying for multiple myeloma drugs, that is the one place a class action actually exists. Revlimid (lenalidomide) and Thalomid (thalidomide), both manufactured by Celgene (now owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb), are frontline multiple myeloma treatments. Purchasers and insurers filed a class action, In re Thalomid and Revlimid Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 14-cv-06997 in the District of New Jersey, alleging that Celgene used sham patent challenges, restrictive supply agreements, and its risk-management programs to block generic competition and keep prices inflated.25Block & Leviton. Thalomid and Revlimid Antitrust Litigation
A $55 million settlement reached in July 2019 covering roughly 9,000 plaintiffs was rescinded by Celgene in December 2019 after 80 plaintiffs opted out.26Fierce Pharma. Celgene Backs Out of $55M Class Action Settlement27Berman Tabacco. Thalomid Revlimid28Thalomid Revlimid Litigation. Frequently Asked Questions
Related litigation continues. Celgene settled with generic competitors in 2022 under agreements limiting generic Revlimid sales to no more than 7% of the market until January 2026, after which volume restrictions were set to expire; a January 2025 FTC report flagged those restrictions as a mechanism that delayed meaningful competition.29I-MAK. How Celgene and Bristol Myers Squibb Used Volume Restrictions to Delay Revlimid Competition
What You Have to Prove
Across every one of these legal paths, causation is the hard part. Multiple myeloma’s long latency means a diagnosis often arrives decades after the exposure, and you will typically need expert testimony from oncologists, toxicologists, and epidemiologists to connect the specific chemical to your disease. The exceptions are the programs that use presumptive status: the VA’s rules for Camp Lejeune, Agent Orange, and burn pit exposures, and the recognition of multiple myeloma under the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. In those systems, qualifying service, residence, or work history replaces the usual burden of proving medical causation.
Which legal theory applies depends on who you are suing. A worker suing an employer, a resident suing a neighboring plant, and a consumer suing a drug maker proceed under different rules, with different deadlines. If you have a multiple myeloma diagnosis and a plausible exposure, the practical first step is to identify the specific exposure context and the program or litigation that matches it, because that choice drives everything else — the filing deadline, the forum, and whether you join an existing class, enter an MDL, or file on your own.