A jury recently found Meta and Google responsible for a California woman’s depression and anxiety. The plaintiff reported using social media compulsively as a child, and the courts awarded her a $6 million verdict, including punitive damages, based on the platforms’ role in her addiction.
Find out more about mass torts for social media addiction and how the record review and retrieval services from National Record Retrieval (NRR) could make all the difference in your firm’s civil legal actions.
A multi-million dollar lawsuit is likely minuscule for the social media giants involved. However, this landmark decision represents the first time a jury determined that a social media app could be treated as a “defective product.” According to court records, platforms engineer these programs to exploit children’s developing brains, and the ruling has little to do with content.
The jury concluded that apps like Instagram and YouTube were intentionally designed to be addictive, and the companies are well aware of it. Much like Big Tobacco failed to protect the country’s youth decades ago, this litigation could influence thousands of other mass torts in holding these platforms responsible. If nothing else, it is a positive sign that industry-wide changes are forthcoming.
The NRR team recently rolled out a new service called DX|RX. This claims data reporting tool features a patient’s history of medical claims and prescription fills. Many of the mass tort law firms we already work with have used this service to pre-screen active cases, thanks to the key criteria we highlight in the report. This document has a seven-year lookback period from the date of the request and helps your attorneys quickly determine the viability of a case without expending too much time, energy, or the firm’s money.
Personal injury lawyers also utilize our DX/RX claims data service to help support their single-event cases. The report could identify undisclosed pre-existing injuries and forgotten providers, while confirming your client’s timeline of medical events post-incident. Most of the medical claims data we report is available within 24 hours of the request and comes directly from databases associated with employer-sponsored, individual, and private health insurance.
Mass tort claims centered around social media addiction are on the rise, and National Record Retrieval (NRR) is ready to support your litigation efforts. Do not waste your staff’s time and your firm’s hard-earned billables. Reach out to our office now to learn more.
