One of the main problems with mass torts over asbestos, drugs and others is their mass, some critics say.
When a global settlement like Vioxx was reached, plaintiffs’ counsel had agreed to withdraw from representing their clients if plaintiffs would not agree to settle their claims over the painkiller. The U.S. Supreme Court and other appellate courts have rejected the efficiencies of the class-action vehicle to resolve mass-tort actions for personal injuries involving individual issues of medical causation. There’s the question of how the claims of a multitude of plaintiffs can be tried or resolved justly and efficiently.
