What Is a Mass Tort? Mass Tort vs Class Action

A mass tort is a single legal action that bundles many individual injury claims against the same defendant — usually the maker of a dangerous drug, defective device, or harmful product. Unlike a class action, each person keeps their own claim and their own potential compensation.

How a mass tort works

When one product hurts many people in different ways, courts often group the cases together to handle shared questions efficiently — frequently as multidistrict litigation (MDL). Evidence about the product is developed once for everyone, but each claimant's injury, treatment, and damages are evaluated individually.

Mass tort vs. class action

• Class action: everyone suffered essentially the same small harm; one outcome is split across the class; you usually don't have an individual case.
• Mass tort: people suffered different, often serious injuries from the same product; each keeps a separate claim and separate payout based on their specific harm.

Rule of thumb: minor, uniform harm → class action; serious, person-specific injury → mass tort.

Do you have a mass tort claim?

Three things generally matter: the product you used, the injury or diagnosis you suffered, and the timeline connecting them. Documentation helps, but you don't need it all before talking to an attorney.

Related: defective product claims · active mass torts · check your eligibility.