Used by millions of Americans, Tylenol is one of the most well-known painkillers on the market. An analgesic (pain reliever) and antipyretic (fever reducer), it’s used for treating many conditions. However, it’s been found that its active ingredient, acetaminophen, if taken in too high a quantity, can cause liver damage.

Johnson & Johnson is currently facing a number of Tylenol liver damage lawsuits. Currently standing at 140 Tylenol lawsuits in federal courts, all the liver damage lawsuits allege Johnson & Johnson didn’t sufficiently warn of the liver risks.

With shared claims, the Tylenol liver damage lawsuits were consolidated into a multidistrict litigation (MDL). Often times in drug-related cases, an MDL is used to reduce duplicative discovery in cases, helping to avoid conflicting pretrial rulings from different judges, and to serve the convenience of the parties, witnesses and the courts.

The Tylenol MDL is consolidated under U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence F. Stengel in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The pretrial schedule for the bellwether cases has just been pushed back by three months. The case-specific discovery originally set for August 1 was moved to November 1. Therefore, current bellwether trials are not expected to begin until later in 2015.

Additionally, the selection of Tylenol lawsuits to be looked at in the Tylenol bellwether trials has also been pushed back 90 days, to December 1.

Once the bellwether cases have been selected, Judge Stengel has directed the parties to meet and decide on a pretrial schedule for discovery in the remaining two Tylenol liver damage lawsuits. If a mutual date can’t be agreed upon, he has requested the two sides to submit their positions by Jan. 6, 2015.

Bellwether trials are early trials that look at a small group of cases to gauge how juries may respond to testimony and evidence. In the case of the Tylenol hearings, if the trials do not look positive for Johnson & Johnson, they may decide to settle, avoiding the need for multiple trials around the country. If a settlement does not occur, then actual jury trials are expected to begin late 2016.

Tylenol History

Manufactured by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Laboratories, Tylenol was first sold in 1955 as Tylenol Elixer for Children. Today, millions of American adults and children use the drug regularly for common ailments such as head and body aches, colds and fevers.

Tylenol is marketed as safer than its sister painkillers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin or ibuprofen that may cause stomach discomfort or bleeding. It, and its generic, is compounded by pharmacies into more than 500 prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. It’s estimated that the drug generates more than $1 billion a year for McNeil.

Acetaminophen Issues

Acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, is also found in other pain killers and medications. It sits at the heart of Tylenol’s problems.

According to data from an ongoing study funded by the National Institutes for Health (NIH):

“Acetaminophen overdose sends as many as 78,000 Americans to the emergency room annually and results in 33,000 hospitalizations a year, federal data shows. Acetaminophen is also the nation’s leading cause of acute liver failure, according to data from an ongoing study funded by the National Institutes for Health.”

This problem arises when too much is taken. Acetaminophen overdose, and the liver damage it causes, is a preventable problem. In hopes of reducing the number of cases of liver damage, the maximum recommended dosage of acetaminophen-based medications was reduced from 4,000 to 3,000 mg per day, and a push to make the public aware of the risks is in play.

However, Johnson & Johnson’s recommended dosage change comes too late for many. Those plaintiffs who suffered liver damage contend that the drug maker should have warned the public decades ago, and that they put their reputation before public safety.