The mass tort inventory in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas saw modest growth since the start of the year, as the emerging litigation over vena cava filters has begun to see a significant uptick and the newly formed Essure birth control device litigation has started to see its first filings.

According to statistics recently released by the First Judicial District, the mass tort inventory saw an overall increase of 746 cases, or a less than 8% increase over the 9,716 total cases that were pending at the beginning of the year. The total 10,462 cases that were pending as of the beginning of the month are down only slightly from the record high 10,984 cases that were on the dockets at the start of 2018.