We have a lot of people that say to us, “is this like a class action lawsuit? I don’t want to go through all this only to get $100 in the mail from a split settlement.” This is a totally reasonable question, but guess what? You’re in luck. There are significant differences between mass torts vs. class action lawsuits. In a class action lawsuit, all members of the class are treated as one plaintiff (person bringing their case to the lawsuit) and a representative sues defendant (the company who sold the faulty product) for the entire class. This means that if the plaintiff wins, everyone divides the settlement equally. In a mass tort (unlike a class action lawsuit), each individual case is taken into consideration. While each plaintiff has suffered harm from the same drug, the harm that each person suffered may vary so they receive different amounts of financial compensation.
Let’s say you took a drug that has caused so much suffering that you can no longer work and have trouble taking care of your family. There may be others who have suffered pain and discomfort; however, it may not have disrupted their lives to the same extent. Or there may be others who required several hospitalizations and procedures. Every case is different, so each amount that a patient receives in a settlement is different. Mass tort lawsuits take into account all of the similarities as well as all of the differences with every individual case. Because there are varying degrees of complications across the board, some individuals will receive a larger amount in compensation for their injuries than those who have injuries that are less severe.One popular example of a mass tort is the case against Vioxx (rofecoxib) which was a COX-2 selective, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). While this medication was prescribed to millions of patients to help minimize pain (including arthritis, acute pain and migraines), it also caused heart attack, stroke and even death in countless patients. Researchers estimate that 88,000 Americans had heart attacks after taking Vioxx and 38,000 of those patients died.Due to these high numbers of patient injuries and deaths, there were approximately 47,000 plaintiffs in this case. This drug was voluntarily taken off the market in 2004, and Merck & Co., the makers of Vioxx, signed an agreement to pay $4.85 billion to the thousands of patients who the drug injured or to family members whose loved one died after taking this harmful medication.If you or a loved one were injured by a faulty drug or medical device, it is critical that you contact Periscope Group today. Mass torts have a statute of limitations which means that you have a limited time for when you can make a claim against a company. Once the deadline has passed, you are no longer eligible for financial compensation.
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