Testosterone Mass Torts: How Testosterone Victims Are Fighting for Justice

Published on August 31, 2015 by

When companies manufacture, distribute and market products that cause harm, injured victims and their families can take their claim to the court system for recourse.

A hurt person can bring an action known as a tort to obtain compensation for damages. A tort is a type of civil action, as opposed to a criminal action. The person who sues is known as the plaintiff, and the company or person being sued is known as the defendant. In general, for a tort to succeed, three basic things must be true.

  1. First of all, someone suffered an injury that led to costs. For instance, if a mother had to be hospitalized for ventricular fibrillation, or a baby was born with a malformed kidney, the court would definitely consider the victim “injured.”
  2. Some person or entity (like a company, such as Abbott Laboratories) directly or indirectly caused that injury as a result of negligence, carelessness or other wrongdoing.
  3. The entity responsible has money to pay for the damages. A source of funds is of importance. By contrast, imagine a situation in which a drunk driver with no insurance or assets causes a serious car wreck. A lawsuit might not be feasible, if the driver has no way to provide any compensation. In testosterone cases, however, this last constraint is not a problem, considering that companies like Abbott Laboratories have many billions of dollars.

When a lot of different people suffer similar harm from similar causes, they can combine their torts into what’s known as a mass tort. These plaintiffs can combine forces to sue one or several defendants. To pursue a mass tort action, plaintiffs have to ask the court for permission. The court will decide based on factors like:

  • How many plaintiffs got hurt;
  • Where the plaintiffs live (are they close to each other or far apart?);
  • The nature of the injures (are they similar or not?);
  • Whether a single cause or set of causes was likely responsible for the damages.

In our next post we will discuss the difference between a mass tort and a class action lawsuit.

If you would like to explore the possibility of bringing legal action to obtain compensation for medical problems, deaths or other issues related to Low T medications, please contact the experienced attorneys at Marc Whitehead & Associates, LLP at (855)-423-3666 to discuss your options.

For more information regarding the use of Low T drugs, please visit www.usacivialaction.com and download a copy of our free E-book, The Fall of Testosterone: How a Vaunted “Low T” Therapy Has Backfired and Put Millions of Men at Risk for Heart Problems and Stroke.