From asbestos to tobacco to pharmaceutical products, mass tort litigation has become a powerful form of litigation in both state and federal courts. Mass tort litigation is a growing area of the law, which shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. Mass tort claims find their origins barely twenty- five years ago.1 Some scholars trace true mass tort cases back even further to the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. In the 60’s lawyers began to represent passengers in plane crashes on a structured basis. They represented a multitude of plaintiffs and victims against a myriad of defendants including manufacturers, suppliers and the airline companies themselves. These cases, referred to as “mass accident” claims, where a catastrophic event results in a number of serious and fatal injuries, are usually followed by mass litigation. 2 In mass accident litigation, injuries generally occur at a central location and usually manifest themselves immediately.

Listening to the radio on your daily commute, you hear news that a popular prescription drug has been pulled from the market. You have heard earlier accounts of problems with this drug and have been doing some preliminary research. You know that it was “fast tracked” by the FDA and approved after a six-month review process, over the objections of the agency’s medical review officer and advisory committee. Now, after the FDA has linked more than 100 deaths to the drug, the manufacturer is announcing its “voluntary withdrawal.” At the office, your phone is ringing; all lines are lit up. Dozens of potential clients call to report injuries suffered while taking the drug. You have seen this scenario before and know you must organize quickly. At this stage, there are many unknowns: What injuries are truly linked to this drug? Does a particular dosage pose a greater risk? Are certain patients more susceptible to adverse reactions? When did the company learn of the problems? You develop an initial questionnaire to obtain as many pertinent facts as possible, and set up a database to track and sort client information.

The pursuit of electronic discovery by lawyers and the legal battles that ensue are now a routine part of pharmaceutical litigation. “Today, it is black letter law that computerized data is discoverable if relevant.”3 Attorneys today are faced with new challenges and hurdles in this world of new-age technology and digital discovery. With this progressive electronic evolution, attorneys and their support staff must learn to navigate through various types of computer programs including word processing documents, databases, spreadsheets, personal and business e- mails and other electronic files. However, diligent efforts on the part of an attorney may lead to an abundance of relevant electronic evidence and discovery of “smoking gun” documents illustrating corporate misconduct.

On September 30, 2004, the blockbuster drug VIOXX was withdrawn from the worldwide market. This prescription painkiller had generated sales in excess of $2 billion annually and had been prescribed to more than 20 million Americans. After five years on the market, VIOXX - which had been touted as a “miracle drug” and was the object of the biggest launch in Merck’s history - was withdrawn because of serious safety issues. This is the VIOXX story.