The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a busy mass tort jurisdiction, to say the least, has continued to tinker with its mass tort general rules, last week issuing General Court Regulation No. 2012-03, amending the protocols for cases in the mass tort program.

The biggest change was to allow punitive damages in some pharmaceutical cases subject to the approval of the Complex Litigation Center coordinating judges, Judge Sandra Mazer Moss and Judge Arnold L. New. The Court said it continues to review recommendations concerning
punitive damages and will likely further amend this rule. But until a final version is established, the following procedure was adopted: Punitive damage claims may be litigated in pharmaceutical mass tort cases provided that the Coordinating Judges, following appropriate motion practice by defense counsel at least 60 days in advance of trial, rule that there are sufficient requisite proofs to support the claim going to trial.

Philadelphia is of course the home base of MassTortDefense, and we have posted on the evolving rules before.  Other than a few outliers, the defense bar had generally supported the continuation of the deferral of punitive damages because this practice furthered the Court’s stated goal of meeting the American Bar Association’s suggested standards for the disposition of cases. Deferral of punitive damages claims in these cases can remove a major obstacle to settlement of mass tort litigation and open the way for the prompt resolution of the damage claims of many thousands of injured plaintiffs.

Furthermore, when mass tort claims involve pharmaceutical and medical device defendants that market life-saving or life-enhancing products, additional policy considerations support deferral. Drugs and devices are subject to comprehensive regulation by the FDA. Absent extraordinary circumstances, a defendant that has complied with the FDA requirements should not be deemed to have engaged in punishable conduct with the potential for repeat sanctions.

We will keep an eye on this one for you.