| Why do pharmaceutical studies result in product liability litigation in the US
and not in the UK? Darren Smith and Heather Ritch at Reed Smith Richards
Butler LLP look at contrasting approaches to mass tort claims
Hardly a week goes by without the media reporting research suggesting that a
pharmaceutical product may cause unwanted effects, or a critic’s assertions that
serious injury, or even death, can occur if the drug is not withdrawn or its use
severely limited. Yet in the two countries that are said to have the biggest claimant
(plaintiff) cultures in the world – the US and the UK – such reports and studies
produce very different results in terms of product liability litigation against
pharmaceutical manufacturers.
While high-profile, high-value mass tort claims, including
pharmaceutical product liability claims, are common in the US,
there have been very few similar actions in the UK. The reason
for this lies in the fundamental differences between the US and
UK legal systems. There have been calls from leading figures in
the UK claimant legal community for radical changes to the UK
system to allow mass tort claims to get off the ground. But,
unless such changes occur, it is believed that such claims will
remain a rarity in the UK, even if there are successful claims in
the US. What are the key differences that result in this position?
Primarily, those differences are: |
