AFFF Lawsuit Updates
Last updated: August 14, 2026
The AFFF firefighting foam cases are in an odd place. Billions have already been paid out, and not one dollar of it went to a person with cancer. All of that money settled claims by water utilities over cleaning up contaminated supplies.
The claims by people who got sick are the whole remaining story, and they have been stuck. The first test trial was cancelled and no new date has been set.
This page is general legal education, not legal advice, and it reports on litigation that is still moving. Nothing here evaluates any individual reader’s claim or creates an attorney-client relationship.
Where the AFFF Litigation Stands Now
The federal proceeding, In re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2873, sits before Judge Richard M. Gergel in the District of South Carolina. It was consolidated in 2018 and is now one of the largest active MDLs in the country. Reported counts put it near 15,246 pending cases in August 2026, against roughly 19,822 total ever docketed.
Filings have kept coming. The pending count grew through 2025 and into 2026 while water contamination matters resolved and closed, which is why the pending and total figures have moved in different directions.
Firefighter, military, or airport worker with a PFAS-linked diagnosis? Claims are still being filed, and deadlines run on state law tied to diagnosis rather than to when the exposure happened.
Check Whether You May QualifyWhy the Billions Already Paid Did Not Reach Claimants
This is the most commonly misread part of the AFFF litigation, and it matters for anyone reading a headline about a settlement. The large sums announced so far resolved claims brought by public water systems, not by people.
3M agreed to pay up to roughly $10.3 billion over thirteen years to public water suppliers. DuPont, Chemours and Corteva agreed to a package of about $1.185 billion for the same class of claimant, approved in February 2024. Further utility settlements followed from Tyco, BASF and Carrier. Taken together these are among the largest environmental settlements in United States history.
Every one of them was an infrastructure reimbursement deal. They fund water treatment and remediation. They expressly did not resolve, and did not compensate, individual claims by people diagnosed with cancer or thyroid disease. Those claims sit on a separate track that has never been settled and has never been tried.
What has happened recently
- The first injury trial still has no date. A test trial was set for October 20, 2025 and was expected to be a kidney cancer case. The court took it off the calendar and, as of mid-2026, had not replaced it. A new date is reported to be under discussion.
- 2026, the court kept its structure in place. Judge Gergel extended the lawyer leadership teams on both sides through June 2026 while a second group of test cases moved forward. That is a court getting ready for trials rather than winding down.
- 2026, a fifth company settled on the water side. Carrier resolved claims connected to Kidde-Fenwal, with some money set aside for PFAS plaintiffs. It made no difference to the injury cases.
- June 2025, a hearing on thyroid and liver cancer. The court set aside a day for expert presentations on whether AFFF causes those two conditions, going beyond the four illnesses in the original test group.
- How the test group was built. A 2024 order limited the first round of test cases to four conditions: kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and ulcerative colitis. Kidney cancer was chosen to go first and is still widely seen as the strongest of the four.
Why the missing trial date matters so much
Courts handling thousands of similar cases pick a few to try first. Lawyers call them bellwether trials. The point is to put a number on what a case is worth, because until a jury decides one, nobody knows.
That is why the cancelled October 2025 date is more than a scheduling note. Without a trial coming, the pressure that normally pushes both sides toward a settlement is not there, and the companies have more room than the people suing would like.
Lawyers following the case expect a broad settlement for the injury claims in 2026 or 2027, once the first trials produce results. All of that starts with a date being set. For how this works generally, see bellwether trials and how mass torts work.
A water settlement does not extend your deadline
This is the part worth acting on. Filing deadlines for injury claims are set by state law and are usually tied to the date of diagnosis. The billions paid to water utilities do not pause them, extend them, or protect anyone who has not filed. If a diagnosis is recent, timing is normally the first thing a lawyer looks at.
What to watch from here
- Whether a new injury trial date is set, and whose case goes first.
- How the court rules on which expert evidence is allowed for each illness.
- Whether thyroid and liver cancer join the four conditions already being tried.
- Any sign of a broad settlement for the injury claims, which does not exist yet.
- New cases still being filed, which had not slowed as of August 2026.
- EPA action on PFAS in drinking water, which shapes the wider picture.
How This Updates Page Fits With the Main AFFF Page
The main AFFF foam exposure page covers who was exposed, which diagnoses are involved, and what records tend to matter. That material changes slowly. This page tracks docket movement and trial scheduling, which change often. The broader PFAS picture sits on PFAS Water Contamination Lawsuit Update, and deadlines are covered state by state on PFAS Lawsuit Statute of Limitations by State.
Case counts, settlement figures, and court schedules reported here reflect public reporting available on the date above and should be confirmed against the docket before being relied on.
Related Lawsuit Topics
AFFF Foam Exposure
Firefighter and military claims, and what records matter.
PFAS Water Contamination Update
The wider PFAS litigation beyond firefighting foam.
PFAS and Kidney Cancer
The diagnosis selected to go first in the bellwether pool.
PFAS and Testicular Cancer
The second condition in the original bellwether group.
PFAS Deadlines by State
Filing periods, and why they usually run from diagnosis.
Bellwether Trials
Why the first verdict decides what everything else is worth.
Find Out If You May Have a Case
If you worked with AFFF foam as a firefighter, in the military, or at an airport or industrial site, a free case review may be worth it. The same applies if you drank water the foam contaminated. It is aimed at people later diagnosed with kidney cancer, testicular cancer, thyroid disease, or another linked condition, and it can tell you whether that history fits a claim.
Free and no obligation. Lawsuit Center is not a law firm and submitting a request does not create an attorney-client relationship.
