About Mass Torts
Lawsuits involving popular drugs and medical devices are often thought to be class action proceedings. But that is not always the case. When claims involve complicated medical injuries, the litigation is often structured as a mass tort.
Mass tort litigation shares some similarities with a class action lawsuit but also has important differences, especially in how compensation is awarded to victims. Both systems are explained below.
What is a Class Action?
A class action is a type of lawsuit in which a small group of plaintiffs files a case on behalf of a large group of people with similar claims. The plaintiffs become known collectively as the “class.” Each class member alleges similar harm resulting from the defendant’s conduct. Those bringing the lawsuit seek to recover damages for themselves as well as for those who join the class.
Types of Class Action Cases
Examples of disputes where a class action lawsuit could be used include:
- Employment discrimination
- Unpaid overtime and benefits
- Defects involving a widely used consumer good
- Unlawful consumer loans or service contracts
- Environmental contamination
- Fraud on investors or in the sale of securities
- Certain accidents and disasters
- Or any other case in which wrongful conduct affects numerous victims in a relatively uniform manner
Instead of hundreds or possibly thousands of individual cases, a class action allows one court to resolve all claims through a single lawsuit.
Class Action Damages
An important characteristic of class action lawsuits is the manner in which a monetary settlement or judgment is divided among the parties. In the typical class action case, the plaintiffs are placed into categories based on the general type of injury they experienced. At the end of the lawsuit, each plaintiff in a given category will receive the same amount in compensation.
The Difference in Mass Torts – Your Case, Your Damages
As with class actions, a mass tort lawsuit involves a large number of people who have been harmed by a defendant. The difference, however, is that under the mass tort system each injured victim files their own separate lawsuit. This means that mass tort settlements and judgments are awarded according to the unique facts of each case and the particular legal damages the plaintiff experienced.
In a mass tort lawsuit, each victim can pursue compensation for the full value of his or her personal injuries, including:
- Physical Harm
- Pain and Suffering
- Emotional Distress
- Medical Expenses
- Lost Wages
- Future Health Concerns
- & Other Legal Damages
At the same time, mass torts take advantage of certain aspects of the class action model. For instance, cases are still coordinated with one another and may be put before a single judge for pretrial purposes, such as taking testimony from witnesses, inspecting evidence, and resolving disputes of law or fact applicable to all the involved cases.
Also like class actions, a mass tort allows a large number of injured parties to aggregate their claims and prosecute a lawsuit collectively where it would not be economically feasible to do so alone. This is especially true when the defendant is a major corporation with a team of lawyers ready to defend claims brought against the company.
In federal court, mass tort cases are known as multidistrict litigation (or MDL). In state court, mass torts are called multicounty litigation.
Mass Torts for Drug and Medical Device Cases
Mass tort lawsuits are prominent in defective drug and defective medical device litigation. This area of law is well-suited for the mass tort structure because the defendants are often powerful pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, and because each injured patient experiences unique side effects and complicated legal damages.
While mass tort claims allow individual plaintiffs to be compensated more thoroughly and accurately, these matters are also complex to litigate. Defective drug and device cases typically involve patients from all across the country; thousands of individually filed claims; a multitude of lawyers and law firms representing both the plaintiffs and defendants; potentially limited settlement funds that must be equitably divided; and detailed scientific and medical evidence.
Recent mass torts have included litigation over Yaz, Accutane, Paxil, Vioxx, and metal-on-metal hip implants, to name a few. These cases involved tens of thousands of plaintiffs facing corporate defendants such as Bayer, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson.
Choose An Experienced Mass Tort Lawyer
Given the complexity and high stakes nature of pharmaceutical mass torts, injured patients should take care to choose a lawyer with meaningful experience in this area of law. If you believe you may have a claim, we invite you to contact our mass tort lawyers online or by phone at 866-808-2424 for a free case evaluation and to learn how our firm can help.