The Shame of Mass Torts (Anthony Sebok): The Pain Brokers by Prof Elizabeth Burch (Georgia) describes the terrible treatment suffered by a group of women who had a defective surgical device implanted into their bodies. Unlike the more familiar stories about products liability involving DES or asbestos, The Pain Brokers focuses not on the wrongdoing that led to the defective products reaching the market, but on the wrongdoing that followed the discovery of the defendants’ liability. This is the story of the mass tort system being weaponized against plaintiffs … (JOTWELL, 15 April 2026)
The Lost Story of the Pelvic Mesh Litigants (Seth Endo): Multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases now comprise a majority of the federal docket. And MDLs often are one of the only means of providing victims of mass-torts with the possibility of redress. But even after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 took effect on December 1, 2025, there is limited guidance for courts, lawyers, and litigants. Despite this, as Nora Freeman Engstrom identifies, ‘These decisions can affect hundreds of thousands of litigants and, in many cases, the legitimacy of the civil justice system itself’. Unsurprisingly, MDLs provide a frequent subject for legal scholars … (JOTWELL, 15 April 2026)
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