What is a mass tort, and how is it different from a class action?

A mass tort is a group of individual lawsuits brought by many people who say the same drug, device, or product harmed them. Unlike a class action, where a few representatives stand in for everyone, each mass tort plaintiff keeps their own claim, and any compensation is evaluated based on their own injuries.

Maybe you saw an ad about a lawsuit involving a medical device you have, a medication you took for years, or the social media apps your child uses every day. The word "lawsuit" can make it sound like something already happening somewhere else, with or without you. Many people assume they are automatically part of it, the way you might be included in a class action over a data breach.

For injury claims, that is usually not how it works. Most drug and device litigation is handled as a mass tort, and the difference affects what you need to do if you think you were harmed.

What is a mass tort?

A tort is a civil wrong that causes someone harm, the legal basis for most injury claims. A mass tort is what happens when the same product or conduct is alleged to have harmed a large number of people, and many of them file their own lawsuits against the same company.

Mass torts often involve:

• Medical devices, such as implanted port catheters or transvaginal mesh.
• Prescription drugs, where plaintiffs allege the manufacturer failed to warn about a serious risk.
• Consumer products, such as talcum powder.
• Products used by children, such as the lawsuits alleging social media platforms were designed in ways that harm young users.

Each person who files is a separate plaintiff with a separate case. Their cases move forward together because they share common questions, like what the company knew and when, but each one rests on that person's own medical history and injuries.

What is a class action?

In a class action, one or a few people, called class representatives, sue on behalf of a much larger group, called the class. Everyone who fits the class definition is typically included automatically unless they choose to opt out.

Class actions work well when many people suffered the same kind of harm in roughly the same amount. Common examples are hidden fees, defective products that simply need a refund, or privacy violations. If a class action settles, the money is usually divided among class members according to a formula, and members are bound by the result whether or not they took part.

How are the two different?

The core difference is whether your claim is yours or part of a group claim. That shows up in a few practical ways.

• Who controls the case. In a class action, the representatives and their lawyers make decisions for the whole class. In a mass tort, you have your own attorney and your own claim.
• How injuries are evaluated. A class action treats members largely alike. In a mass tort, your specific diagnosis, treatment, and how the injury affected your life are what matter.
• What you have to provide. Class members often do little more than submit a claim form. Mass tort plaintiffs provide medical records and details about their use of the product.
• Whether you are included. You can be in a class action without doing anything. You are not part of a mass tort unless you file a claim.

That last point is the one most people miss. If a mass tort involves a product that harmed you, nobody files on your behalf automatically.

Why are injury cases usually mass torts?

For a court to allow a class action, the members' claims have to be similar enough that one case can fairly decide them all. Personal injuries rarely meet that standard. Two people with the same implanted device can have completely different complications, treatments, and recoveries.

Because of that, courts generally keep injury claims separate. Grouping them in a class would mean treating a person who needed several surgeries the same as a person with a minor problem, which would be unfair to both.

What is an MDL, and where does it fit in?

When hundreds or thousands of similar federal lawsuits are filed around the country, a panel of federal judges can transfer them to a single judge. This is called multidistrict litigation, or MDL. The goal is efficiency: one judge oversees the shared pretrial work, like gathering company documents and hearing from experts, instead of dozens of courts repeating it.

For example, the federal Bard PowerPort cases are consolidated as MDL 3081 in the District of Arizona, and the federal social media addiction cases are consolidated as MDL 3047 in the Northern District of California.

An MDL is not a class action. Each case inside it is still an individual lawsuit. Judges often schedule a few early trials, called bellwether trials, to show both sides how juries respond to the evidence. The results can shape whether and how the parties negotiate, but they do not decide anyone else's case. Similar cases filed in state courts may be grouped together in their own consolidated proceedings.

What does this mean if you think you were harmed?

If you believe a drug, device, or product in an active mass tort harmed you, the practical takeaways are straightforward.

• You need to file your own claim. Being eligible is not the same as being included.
• Deadlines apply to you individually. Every state has a statute of limitations, the time limit for filing a lawsuit, and it can start running when you were injured or when you learned the injury might be connected to the product. An attorney can tell you which deadline applies to your situation.
• Your records matter. Medical and mental health records, prescription or device information, school records where relevant, and a timeline of symptoms and treatment are the foundation of an individual claim. In social media cases, the accounts and usage history can matter as well.
• Cost is not usually a barrier. Mass tort attorneys typically work on a contingency fee, meaning their fee is a percentage of any recovery and they are not paid a fee if there is none.

A free case review is a way to find out whether your situation may fit an active claim before you commit to anything.

Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Injury Advocate Group is an advertising service, not a law firm. Litigation status changes; eligibility can only be confirmed through a case review with an attorney.