A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or more defendants in state or federal court. Mass torts ordinarily result from the ingestion of a defective drug or the implantation of a defective medical device, or in the aftermath of a mass disaster. They frequently involve claims of product liability and a complex combination of other laws.
Because so many people have potentially taken the same drug or used the same device, there may be hundreds or even thousands of claimants filing lawsuits against the drug or medical device manufacturer at any given time. Many people mistakenly believe that this is a class action; it is not. And while all similar claims may be assigned to a single judge in a central location, each claim is handled individually by each claimant’s attorney.
Skilled Civil Litigators
The product liability, personal injury and medical malpractice lawyers at Dankner Milstein, P.C., have successfully represented clients in mass tort cases involving the drugs Phen-Fen, Rezulin and many others. We have also handled cases involving medical devices such as hip implants and orthopedic devices. Just recently, we represented a major New York county against the makers of Vytorin and Zetia and helped secure a $41 million settlement on behalf of “third-party payors” who purchased the drugs based on misleading or inaccurate information.
