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.
Beaufort is a town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1709, it is the third-oldest town in North Carolina. The population was 4,189 at the 2008 census and it is the county seat of Carteret County. It is sometimes confused with a city of the same name in South Carolina; the two are distinguished by different pronunciations. Beaufort is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. The town is home to the North Carolina Maritime Museum. It is also home to the Duke University Marine Laboratory, where scientists study the marine environment and develop solutions to conservation problems in coastal and oceanic ecosystems.