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When Med Mal and Mass Tort Claims Overlap

By Jonathan B. Acklen
May 02, 2014

Medical malpractice litigation is often complex, in-depth, and issue-heavy. Mass tort litigation is also often complex, in-depth, and issue-heavy. What happens when those two areas of practice converge during the course of a case? The answer to that question depends, of course, on the facts of each specific case. However, the issues that face attorneys on all sides of the litigation cannot be ignored.

Mass tort claims are typically claims made by individual plaintiffs against a manufacturer of a pharmaceutical or medical device. Prescription drugs require a treating physician's prescription to the patient and medical devices require the treating surgeon to decide to use the particular device. The role of the treating physician, therefore, is integral to the treatment of the patients in these claims. A physician's prescription of a drug or use of a device that is or at some point becomes the subject of a mass tort claim, however, does not always amount to malpractice. As a lawyer representing a potential plaintiff, manufacturer, or treating physician, you cannot ignore the actions and the role the treating physician played in the patient's treatment involving the drug or device.

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