Dangerous Drugs And Defective Products

Mass torts are claims that are joined by a number of people about a single or recurring damaging event, like producing a defective medication or medical device. Sara Saba has the knowledge, experience, and organizational skill to put together compelling cases from multiple stories, weaving many different voices into a single, unified argument.

Mass Torts

When should I consider joining a mass tort case for medical device defects or dangerous products?

Class action lawsuits have gotten a bad reputation recently, but they do have a use in certain types of cases, particularly consumer cases. In order to bring a class action, the people involved must have very similar damages because they will receive the same compensation. The case wouldn’t work if some had suffered serious pain and suffering while others had not. For this reason, class actions don’t work well for bad drugs cases, which often involve different injuries and losses.

If each drug company were to try cases across the United States, they could be embroiled in thousands of cases at once, without any uniformity in the results. Similarly, law firms can’t afford to spend thousands of dollars trying each case; there would be no money left over for the injured patients once the litigations costs were paid. That’s why lawsuits for pharmaceutical injuries are often handled as mass torts. A panel of judges from across the country will gather these cases, though each will be filed separately. As the cases move along, the court will appoint a panel of lawyers to conduct discovery, keep everyone informed, and review the appropriate documents.

Only a few test cases selected by the court will typically move forward to help determine the value of the claims. These test cases aim to ascertain whether juries believe the products are, in fact, defective or whether the drug company did do something wrong. In most mass torts, the court and the panel of lawyers will develop settlement parameters, though each individual in the case retains the right to refuse the settlement.

The Law Office of Sara J. Saba will be with you throughout the entire process, whether or not your claim is consolidated into a mass tort or not.

What determines the value of a claim?

The value will be based on several factors, including the strength of the case, the age of the patient, the number of symptoms, the severity of symptoms and complications suffered by the patient, any future medical needs of the patient, and lost wages. Obviously, if the patient died as a result of the defective or dangerous product, that would significantly affect the value of the claim, as well. The Multi District Litigation (MDL) process works to inform all stakeholders of the strengths, weaknesses, and potential value of each case.

For more information on the potential value of your claim, reach out to us for a review of your particular situation.