Mass Tort/Drug Cases

Pennsylvania - New Jersey - New York - Nationwide

Kline & Specter, P.C. is a recognized leader in pharmaceutical and product liability litigation.

The firm's Mass Tort Department was named among the nation's best for 2011-2012 by U.S. News Media Group and Best Lawyers, for its handling of cases involving a litany of drugs from Accutane to Vioxx. It is currently litigating cases involving zinc poisoning that resulted from the use of Fixodent and other denture creams.

The Mass Tort department also litigates cases involving a wide range of other products, such as asbestos, defective pacemakers and defibrillators and Bausch & Lomb ReNu brand contact lens solution. (See lists below.)

Kline & Specter is among the handful of law firms spearheading national litigation against Merck & Co. involving the pain medication Vioxx, litigation which resulted in a $4.85 billion settlement. Vioxx was removed from the market in 2004 after it was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Tom Kline and Shanin Specter deposed ranking Merck executives and scientists. Kline is also a member of the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee directing the federal Vioxx litigation.

Heading the mass tort litigation team for Kline & Specter is Lee B. Balefsky, a partner at Kline & Specter, who has 30 years experience in complex litigation. (continued below)

Pharmaceuticals:

Medical Devices and Other Products:

Beyond being a national leader in the Vioxx litigation, Kline & Specter has had more than 1,000 clients in the Fen-Phen diet drugs case.

Lee Balefsky serves as the Philadelphia County Mass Tort Program liaison counsel in the Vioxx, Diet Drugs, and PPA cases, a role in which he aids the court in case management while providing information to other attorneys involved in the cases. The Mass Tort Department has achieved significant settlements for in lawsuits against the makers of several drugs, including Baycol, Fen-Phen and PPA.

The Mass Tort Department's expertise goes far beyond pharmaceutical cases. Balefsky has won numerous cases over the past two decades for clients stricken with cancer because of asbestos inhalation, a still-present danger. The division also handles cases involving defective medical devices and is currently representing a water company in a case involving MTBE, a gasoline additive that works its way into water supplies.

Although clients are individually represented in mass tort cases, the system allows for consolidation and streamlining by allowing lawyers for numerous clients to "pool" discovery. Numerous witness depositions and document gathering can be conducted once, with the information centralized and shared among the parties for each individual trial or settlement negotiation.

The firm handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. For cases outside those states, Kline & Specter works with local attorneys in each state as applicable.

For more information on mass tort litigation, see the article co-authored by Michelle Tiger titled "Philadelphia Mass Tort Program: Alive and Well" and published in the February 2005 issue of Product Liability Law & Strategy.

Kline & Specter handles cases in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York and Nationwide, working with local attorneys in states outside PA, NJ and NY.

In Pennsylvania, Kline & Specter handles cases in and around: Allentown, Altoona, Bethlehem, Chester, Doylestown, Drexel Hill, Easton, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Johnstown, Lancaster, Levittown, McCandless, McKeesport, Monroeville, Norristown, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pottstown, Radnor, Reading, Scranton, State College, West Chester, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport and York.

In New Jersey, the firm handles cases in and around: Atlantic City, Bayonne, Brick Township, Camden, Cherry Hill, Clifton, Edison, Elizabeth, Fort Lee, Jersey City, Lakewood, Millville, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson, Pennsauken, Plainfield, Toms River, Trenton, Union, Vineland, Voorhees and Willingboro.