FAQs

It helps, but it is not always necessary at the outset of litigation. Implant records, operative reports, and hospital records often identify the manufacturer and model of the device. The team at CPY Law can look through your medical records to help get this specific information.

You may still have a case even if your doctor informed you of the risks of a medical device.

Many procedures involve known risks. A legal claim may depend on whether the manufacturer adequately disclosed those risks, whether the device was defectively designed or manufactured, and whether the injury was caused by a product defect rather than an expected complication.

No. Medical devices can fail for many reasons, including infection, trauma, patient-specific factors, or normal wear over time. Determining whether a legal claim exists requires careful investigation. Our Kansas City medical device injury attorneys will carefully evaluate your situation to ensure you have a valid case.

It depends. Mass tort litigation can take years to reach a resolution. This is the reality of complex litigation involving pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and other major corporations.

As the litigation process unfolds, our mass tort litigation attorneys in Kansas City will provide regular updates. You can also reach out to our law firm with questions or concerns as they arise so you remain in the loop and fully informed.

A bellwether trial is an individual lawsuit selected to proceed to trial before the remaining cases in multidistrict litigation.

Bellwether trials allow plaintiffs and defendants to see how juries respond to the evidence, expert testimony, and legal arguments that are likely to arise throughout the litigation. This could affect how your own individual case is developed based on what you have experienced.

Multidistrict litigation (MDL) is a procedure in U.S. federal court. During MDL, multiple civil lawsuits with similar factual issues are transferred to a single federal judge for coordinating pretrial proceedings.

The purpose of multidistrict litigation is to make the litigation process more efficient and cost-effective.

Potentially yes. FDA approval does not automatically shield a manufacturer from liability. The company may have failed to issue proper warnings, withheld safety information, or didn’t conduct appropriate safety testing of the product.

This is one of many common misconceptions about mass tort litigation.

Many people assume that mass torts and class actions are the same thing. However, there are key differences between mass tort litigation and class action lawsuits:

• A class action lawsuit is when one or more people sue on behalf of a larger group against the same defendant. The class shares similar legal claims, and class members divide compensation from a single settlement fund.
• In mass tort litigation, multiple plaintiffs have coordinated discovery, expert development, and pretrial proceedings, but each claim is considered individually rather than as a group.

You should keep medication bottles, pharmacy printouts, prescription records, medical records, discharge paperwork, diagnosis records, photographs, correspondence, and any documents related to your injury or treatment. Do not throw away potential evidence.

Many pharmaceutical cases resolve before trial, but trial is always possible. Whether a particular case proceeds to trial depends on the litigation, the evidence, settlement opportunities, and strategic decisions made as the case develops.