Like most medical malpractice firms, we get occasional referrals of cases involving drugs or medical devices that have caused harm in a medical setting. And like most firms, we ordinarily do not handle them. The reasons are simple: in mass tort cases (i.e., case in which there are many claimants around the country) a firm can only handle such cases if it has a large number of clients and is willing to pay the very large costs associated with the litigation. Representing only a few such clients with regard to a particular drug or device is difficult at best.
When a major drug company or device manufacturer faces many lawsuits around the country, they will spend huge amounts of money to defend the cases that first go to trial. The reason is that the outcome of those trials will impact the settlement value of the other claims. The same goes for the plaintiffs’ firms. If they have a hundred similar cases, they will spend large amounts on the first ones going to trial, because if they prevail the “value” of the other claims will increase dramatically. Thus, a case with a verdict potential of $1,000,000 may justify spending twice that amount because of that impact on the rest of the firm’s similar cases.
When many cases are filed in various federal courts around the country, one specific district court judge will usually be designated to handle the cases. This is done under a statute dealing with “multi-district litigation” (MDL) so that there are not contradictory rulings while the litigation proceeds. That then means that the cases filed around the country are all transferred to the MDL judge.
In MDLs, the court will usually designate a committee made up on the plaintiffs’ attorneys to handle discovery. The drug company or device manufacturer will then be ordered to designate the company representatives to be deposed by a member of the plaintiffs’ committee, or other specific discovery to be conducted. This then avoids the possibility of scores of attorneys all wanting to depose the same company employees about facts relating to the case. Sometimes, too, the MDL judge will order that other attorneys who want access to the depositions or other discovery materials pay some part of the costs of obtaining the evidence, sometimes as a percentage of the fees that are earned in settlement. .
Mass tort cases are usually very complex and difficult, for the reasons set out here. Many firms will advertise nationally for clients so that they have enough claims to justify going forward with claims. If you have a potential claim involving a drug or medical device, if you type in the name of the product and the word “attorney” on a search engine like Google, it is likely you will see many websites of such national firms. You may also see advertisements on TV seeking claimants. Handling such claims is a big business, and many firms that represent individual patient who have been injured because of their health care (medical malpractice cases) will not be able to take on cases involving medical products or unsafe drugs.
