Joining an Accutane Class Action
September 13, 2014 4:24 PM Subscribe
How can I make a claim for damages due to Accutane?
I and a friend think we may qualify for a settlement related to the drug Accutane.
Aside from hiring an expensive lawyer, is there a way I can get the gears in motion myself to make a claim? I haven't seen any obvious places online where I can join a class action, but I'm not very legally inclined and I could have missed it.
If I do have to lawyer up, what should I know about drug settlements going in?
I and a friend think we may qualify for a settlement related to the drug Accutane.
Aside from hiring an expensive lawyer, is there a way I can get the gears in motion myself to make a claim? I haven't seen any obvious places online where I can join a class action, but I'm not very legally inclined and I could have missed it.
If I do have to lawyer up, what should I know about drug settlements going in?
IANAL. But I have participated in a drug lawsuit and received a settlement in my case.
Lawyers who work on these kinds of cases usually work on contingency--in other words, they get a portion of your settlement or award if you win--33% is pretty typical. If you want to pursue this, you would have an initial consultation where they determine whether they think the likelihood of your eventually getting a settlement or award makes it worth their while to pursue the case.
In my situation, I was part of a pool of plaintiffs represented by a single law firm, and the company eventual reached a single settlement amount that was then divided up among the members of the pool according to the degree of harm each plaintiff had suffered. It wasn't a class action in the usual sense where you just fill out a form to join the class and may or may not have to provide some minor proof that you belong to the class (a receipt for a purchase, for example). My understanding is that drug side effects lawsuits are rarely handled as true class actions because not everyone who uses the drug is harmed, and not everyone who is harmed experiences the same degree of harm.
It didn't require a huge amount of effort on my part to pursue the case. I did have to fill out reams of forms on my medical history, authorize the law firm to contact, like, every medical provider I'd had contact with in the 10 previous years, get all my prescription records pulled from pharmacies I'd patronized during the time I was taking the medication, etc. But once I did all that the process just kind of chugged along through the system and I didn't have to meet with the attorneys or go to trial or anything. About 18 months after I got the ball rolling, I got a notice that the company had settled with the pool, the case spent a few more months in front of a judge who weighed the cases in the pool to divide up the settlement amount fairly, and I eventually got cut a check for a LOT more than $50.
I chose my law firm just by googling and picking one that was local and did a lot of medical malpractice and was specifically recruiting clients for the drug in question. So that's where I would suggest you start--find a lawyer with a track record for handling Accutane cases to see whether they're willing to pursue it.
posted by drlith at 6:26 PM on September 13, 2014
Lawyers who work on these kinds of cases usually work on contingency--in other words, they get a portion of your settlement or award if you win--33% is pretty typical. If you want to pursue this, you would have an initial consultation where they determine whether they think the likelihood of your eventually getting a settlement or award makes it worth their while to pursue the case.
In my situation, I was part of a pool of plaintiffs represented by a single law firm, and the company eventual reached a single settlement amount that was then divided up among the members of the pool according to the degree of harm each plaintiff had suffered. It wasn't a class action in the usual sense where you just fill out a form to join the class and may or may not have to provide some minor proof that you belong to the class (a receipt for a purchase, for example). My understanding is that drug side effects lawsuits are rarely handled as true class actions because not everyone who uses the drug is harmed, and not everyone who is harmed experiences the same degree of harm.
It didn't require a huge amount of effort on my part to pursue the case. I did have to fill out reams of forms on my medical history, authorize the law firm to contact, like, every medical provider I'd had contact with in the 10 previous years, get all my prescription records pulled from pharmacies I'd patronized during the time I was taking the medication, etc. But once I did all that the process just kind of chugged along through the system and I didn't have to meet with the attorneys or go to trial or anything. About 18 months after I got the ball rolling, I got a notice that the company had settled with the pool, the case spent a few more months in front of a judge who weighed the cases in the pool to divide up the settlement amount fairly, and I eventually got cut a check for a LOT more than $50.
I chose my law firm just by googling and picking one that was local and did a lot of medical malpractice and was specifically recruiting clients for the drug in question. So that's where I would suggest you start--find a lawyer with a track record for handling Accutane cases to see whether they're willing to pursue it.
posted by drlith at 6:26 PM on September 13, 2014
That said, a class action lawsuit nearly never works out well for the people in the class. Best case scenario, you get a check for $50.
That may be true, but unless the OP is willing to start the ball rolling on a suit themselves, their other option is to nothing.
For what it's worth, I actually got a pretty large chunk of money back from my mortgage company's settlement, in the low 4 figures, but this was a house we're talking about so a lot more money was involved upfront.
posted by zug at 6:36 PM on September 13, 2014
That may be true, but unless the OP is willing to start the ball rolling on a suit themselves, their other option is to nothing.
For what it's worth, I actually got a pretty large chunk of money back from my mortgage company's settlement, in the low 4 figures, but this was a house we're talking about so a lot more money was involved upfront.
posted by zug at 6:36 PM on September 13, 2014
A lawyer, but not yours. This is just legal information. I have defended class actions.
The whole point of a class action is that if you are a member of any class, you generally don't get your own lawyer because the lawyer for the named class representative represents the interests of all class members, which includes you. It's not that you could necessarily recover $50, but I think hobo's point is that class members generally get pennies on the dollar in terms of compensation.
No one here can give you any advice. You need a consultation with a lawyer in your jurisdiction to tell you if you have a claim either on your own or as the member of a class.
posted by Tanizaki at 6:47 PM on September 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
The whole point of a class action is that if you are a member of any class, you generally don't get your own lawyer because the lawyer for the named class representative represents the interests of all class members, which includes you. It's not that you could necessarily recover $50, but I think hobo's point is that class members generally get pennies on the dollar in terms of compensation.
No one here can give you any advice. You need a consultation with a lawyer in your jurisdiction to tell you if you have a claim either on your own or as the member of a class.
posted by Tanizaki at 6:47 PM on September 13, 2014 [2 favorites]
There are lawyers specializing in representing plaintiffs in class actions, and they typically work on a contingent basis. Find one near you and go in for a consultation.
posted by J. Wilson at 9:06 AM on September 14, 2014
posted by J. Wilson at 9:06 AM on September 14, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
That said, a class action lawsuit nearly never works out well for the people in the class. Best case scenario, you get a check for $50. It has more of an effect on public policy and is usually of the most benefit to the lawyers on both sides of the lengthy, decade long legal version of trench warfare until the pharmaceutical company settles.
posted by hobo gitano de queretaro at 4:53 PM on September 13, 2014 [5 favorites]