Class Action Lawsuits for Defective Drugs and Dangerous Products
The term class action refers to a specific type of lawsuit. Often, a large group of people, called plaintiffs, file a lawsuit collectively against a defendant. There are federal class actions and class actions that are nationwide. In order to save time, expense, and confusion these types of cases are usually consolidated into a single court and are governed by an MDL, or multi district litigation, that is established to move the case through the courts. . In order to have cases consolidated into this court, the cases all must share the same issues.
A good candidate for these types of lawsuits are defective drug cases. Medications are prescribed for many thousands of people across the United States. Trying these cases in multiple courts in different jurisdictions would result in a clogging of the court systems. Gathering the multiple plaintiffs into one case to litigate against the manufacturer will ease the strain on the courts, streamline the process and result in a quicker resolution of the case. Defective drug cases can be complicated due to their medical nature. Drug cases require testimony by experts, which is expensive. If expert testimony is given and shared by all plaintiffs, it's financially beneficial for the plaintiffs involved.
Dangerous product cases are another a good candidate for class action lawsuits. A dangerous product can be an appliance purchased by a consumer, an automobile, or a medical device. Mass produced items sold to the public occasionally can cause harm,affecting thousands of people. Consumers can be affected by a product because of faulty design or a product pulled from the market due to a recall. Again, this is a good opportunity to consolidate the cases in order to promote efficiency.
Class action lawsuits for defective drugs or dangerous products can go to trial, or be resolved through a settlement process. An attorney that is knowledgeable about the class action process can assist a potential plaintiff through all phases of the litigation.