Let The Chris Hudson Law Group mass tort lawyers help you obtain compensation after an injury from a defective product.
When consumers purchase a product, take medication, or receive a medical device to help improve their quality of life, they expect these products to be dependable and harmless. Large companies responsible for designing, manufacturing, and distributing consumer products have a duty and an obligation to ensure public safety. If there are risks involved with any product, the dangers should be communicated to the community at large. However, defective goods, dangerous pharmaceutical products, and unsafe medical devices are often sold to customers who don’t know the risks.
As an individual, it can be extremely difficult to obtain compensation after being hurt by a large, well-funded company. However, the qualified, experienced attorneys at Chris Hudson Law Group will fight for you. We know how to handle complex cases and assist injured victims in making fair recoveries—even in complicated mass tort cases.
What Is a Mass Tort Case?
The legal term “tort” refers to a wrongful injury, and the victim of a wrongful injury is allowed to seek financial compensation from the negligent party by suing for damages. If that negligent party is a big corporation whose defective product has caused injuries to a larger group of people, those people can pool their resources to hold the company accountable in a mass tort case. In other words, personal injury law allows the collective group to seek compensation through a single action, even though each lawsuit is handled individually. Mass tort litigation is complicated and often requires a “pattern of facts” that show enough similarity for the cases to be joined together.
Mass Tort vs Class Action Suit
You may hear the term “class action suit” and “mass tort” used interchangeably, and though similar, they’re not the same. For example, the number of plaintiffs in a mass tort is usually less than those in a class action suit because mass torts involve injuries to a specific group of people who customarily live in the same geographic area.
Additionally, in a class action lawsuit, many people are hurt by a defective or harmful product in the same way, and the class must share common characteristics. In a mass tort, many people may be hurt, but the injuries are not always similar—thus, it’s difficult to form “one class” to create a class action suit. So, these cases are handled as mass torts. Each plaintiff is considered as an individual in a mass tort but with a single legal action for those individuals. Additionally, the facts and details of each injury must be established separately for each plaintiff, including how the defendant harmed each plaintiff.
Mass Tort Advantages
Mass tort lawsuits have several advantages over individual personal injury cases and class action cases, including:
- Each plaintiff in a mass tort must file his own individual lawsuit, but claimants can choose a single firm or attorney to represent everyone.
- Plaintiffs can share in the evidence that’s gathered in pre-trial proceedings. Because one attorney or a group of attorneys is allowed to represent the injured parties in their individual lawsuits, all evidence is combined and shared. This accelerates the litigation process, is more efficient, and helps ensure that each plaintiff receives a fair settlement.
When Can You Pursue a Mass Tort Claim for a Defective Product?
You may successfully pursue a mass tort case if you are injured because of a:
Design Defect
If the design of the product was flawed, and the company knew or should have known about the danger, the company may be liable if that defect caused your injury.
Manufacturing Defect
The design of a product may be reasonably safe. But if the product wasn’t manufactured according to specification or the manufacturer deviated from the approved design, it may contain a defect that can be dangerous when used.
Marketing Defect (Failure To Warn)
Some products, including many pharmaceutical products, have known dangers. The company must warn the public of all of the possible side effects and risks associated with a product. The failure to provide appropriate warnings may be a marketing defect.
To prove that a design, manufacturing, or marketing defect caused your injury, you need strong evidence to bring a case against large and powerful companies like Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto, Bayer, and 3M. Mass tort lawyers can help you collect the necessary evidence through the legal discovery process.
We Represent Clients From All Over Georgia in a Variety of Defective Product Liability Lawsuits
We are committed to helping people who have been hurt by a large company’s negligence make a fair recovery. Currently, some of the mass tort cases we handle include:
- AFFF Firefighting Foam. Aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) is used by firefighters to help them perform their jobs and save lives. Little did they know they were putting their own lives at risk. It has recently become known that AFFF contains dangerous chemicals called PFAS that can cause cancer. These so-called “forever chemicals” do not break down easily, and can contaminate the environment. Lawsuits contend that the companies that produce AFFF knew about these risks and did not disclose them.
- Bard PowerPort. The Bard PowerPort is a catheter device that is used to deliver medications, commonly to cancer patients. It has been linked to numerous injuries and deaths as a result of a defect that allows parts of the device to snap off and migrate throughout the body. Patients should not have to suffer additional injury from their medical equipment, and can hold the manufacturer accountable if they do.
- Elmiron. Elmiron is a popular medication used to treat bladder conditions such as interstitial cystitis. Long-term use of Elmiron has been linked to the development of pigmentary maculopathy, a condition impairing vision and in some cases leading to blindness. For those who have suffered from pigmentary maculopathy or other side effects as the result of this dangerous drug, you may be able to recover compensation for your losses.
- Ozempic. Ozempic is a diabetes drug that has become popular for off-label use as a weight loss drug. Many individuals who have used Ozempic this way have suffered severe gastrointestinal side-effects that they were not warned about.
- Paraquat. Paraquat is a weed killer that can only be used by licensed applicators, such as farmers and agricultural workers. It’s a dangerous product containing toxic materials that can cause serious medical problems and has been linked to Parkinson’s disease. It is used in a variety of products made by many different companies. The manufacturers of paraquat knew about the potential risks of their herbicide but failed to disclose any warnings. If exposure to paraquat led to your diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease or another severe medical condition, you might be entitled to compensation from the manufacturing companies.
- PFAS Exposure. Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) has been linked to serious health conditions, including cancer. Unfortunately, it is almost inevitable that you may encounter some amount of PFAS is your life, as these chemicals have become ubiquitous and do not break down in nature. The impact of this is so large that the FDA is currently investigating their implications and consequences of widespread use of PFAS throughout the years.
- Talcum Powder. For generations, Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder has been used to keep skin dry and to soothe irritations. In recent years, serious health concerns have been associated with talcum-based baby powder. These problems include respiratory issues and cancers. Lawsuits have been filed alleging that women who regularly used talcum powder on their genitals developed ovarian cancer.
How A Mass Tort Lawyer from The Chris Hudson Law Group in Augusta, GA Can Help You
If you have been hurt by a defective product, medical device, or dangerous pharmaceutical drug, call the Chris Hudson Law Group today. We would be happy to provide you with a free, confidential, no-obligation consultation to discuss:
- Whether you should start or join a mass tort case
- How we can protect your claim while you focus on your physical recovery
- How we can make sure you are treated fairly in a mass tort action
- Damages you may recover in a mass tort action, including medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and punitive damages
Call us at 888-991-8011, or fill out our online contact form to find out more.