Product Liability And Class Actions: Pharma And Medical Devices In The Litigation League Table

Key Points

• The number of product liability and class actions decisions in Australia is measured compared to some overseas jurisdictions
• In Australia pharmaceuticals and medical devices are the second most likely product to be involved in litigation and to be the subject of a class action, but the number of product liability decisions is far lower here than in Austria or Germany.

At the time when product liability reforms and class actions were introduced into Australia, a great deal of angst was expressed, particularly that a flood of pharmaceutical and medical device litigation would result.

Readers may recall that during 1992, the Australian Federal Government introduced both an equivalent strict liability regime for product liability claims (Part VA Trade Practices Act) and a class actions procedure (Part IVA Federal Court Act). Parallel with these developments, in 1985, the EC Directive on Defective Products was released and has subsequently been