A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs against one or a few corporate defendants. The tort may involve, for example, personal injuries suffered by numerous plaintiffs as a result of a defective product, or a mass disaster in which there were many injured persons, such as an airplane crash, or exposure of a large group of people to toxic chemicals or pharmaceuticals.
Columbia is a city located primarily in Monroe County, Illinois, about 12 miles (19 km) south of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 7,922 at the 2000 census.