Suing Pharmaceutical Giants: The Ugly Truth Behind Mass Torts

A "tort" is defined as, "a negligent or intentional civil wrong not arising out of a contract or statute. These include "intentional torts" such as battery or defamation, and torts for negligence". This term probably isn't familiar to many people, but the advertisements for these lawsuits are something that any part-time television watcher will easily be able to identify. A tort is when a person sues a company for damages due to an unintentional act, such as a defect in production. In America, television watchers in particular are blasted with commercials for mass-torts, where law offices paint a sorrowful picture of a victim suffering terribly due to a pharmaceutical company's drug that has been found to be harmful. In most cases, these lawsuits are legit and many people who were seriously wronged will be encouraged, sometimes even begged to sign a contract to join a mass-tort, to sue and claim damages. Pursuing justice by suing the companies who rush potentially dangerous drugs to the market with barely minimal testing seems like a noble pursuit, but where the problem lies is the massive over-embellishment of money victims are promised. Whether they have been seriously injured or not, law firms offer a promise of entitled money to individuals while skimming over the fact that there is no guarantee of compensation.

Here in Las Vegas, my hometown, a medical nightmare was recently exposed. An endoscopy clinic was closed down due to the contamination of anesthesia injections, causing the possible spread of Hepatitis B, C, and HIV, through 2004 to 2008. This gross negligence exposed some 40,000 people over the course of four years to the viruses. Single-use vials of medication were being used more than once on multiple patients, causing exposure to some of the world's most frightening illnesses. People thought to have been at risk of exposure were sent letters and urged to get tested for the viruses. As many as 85 people had been diagnosed with Hepatitis C, and law firms began the manhunt to carry out the mass-tort against the medical facility. Local TV channels were slammed with commercials proclaiming frightening messages of exposure, guilt, and entitlement to money. People flocked to seminars held in local casino meeting rooms to discuss damages to the exposed. The mass-tort was rolling, huge numbers were being thrown around, and people who were only exposed to a threat were now seeking the same monetary compensation as the people who were actually infected. Entitlement was rampant, and promises were made. As it turned out, after weeks of searching around for liability and insurance funds, the medical facility was only minimally insured. A total of 3 million dollars in malpractice insurance was found, barely enough to give $75 dollars apiece to each at-risk patient. The result of this lack of funds that were promised by local law firms was a new feeding frenzy of lawsuits which blamed everyone from the manufacturer and distributor of the anesthesia, (because the bottles are too large and too tempting to use twice) to the referral company that sent patients to the clinic. In the desperation to find money, everybody who was even in the periphery of this event is at danger of losing large sums of money for several people's mistakes.

When law firms attack pharmaceutical companies with mass-torts, the mega-companies already have money set aside for "victims" who have the probability of eventually suing when drugs are released on the market quickly and without all effects known. The mass of money set aside is the companies' responsibility fund, to clean up messes that will invariably occur when humans are used as guinea pigs (by letting people choose their own medications and telling their doctor what drug they need to make themselves better, thus handing them the responsibility). This fund is limited, and when a mass-tort involves thousands of victims, directly injured or not, the money ends up being divided up into very small portions. The law firms however, usually claim 30% to 40% of each person's claim, leaving them with the enormous sum. Of course, the typical person wouldn't scoff in the face of $30,000 dollars from signing a tort contract with a firm (required, so you can be involved and the firm can get its massive share), unless they were initially told the sum would actually be $300,000 dollars. Suddenly such a paltry amount isn't good enough. Mass-torts bring out the best in people.

In the end the joke is on the real victims who were directly involved with the mass-tort's premise. These are the people who will have to live with a company's negligence for the rest of their lives. Law firms drown the tort, cutting in people who were barely involved and usually not really affected by the claim into the damage money, literally taking it out of the hands of the truly needy, to fuel their own greed. Before getting involved in a mass-tort, know the facts, and realize the contract you are signing. While extra money is never a bad thing, taking it from the hands of real victims is unjust and dishonest.

http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/t032.htm

http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/news/2008/feb/27/hepatitis-outbreak-springs-endoscopy-center-nevada/

http://www.lvrj.com/news/16143007.html

http://www.wiselawgroup.com/legalblog/defective-medical-devices/nevada-endoscopy-center-may-be-under-insured-on-hepatitis-c-outbreak

http://www.ktnv.com/global/story.asp?s=8258791