I meccanismi di ricorso collettivo per i danni da vaccini e farmaci contro il covid-19

The dramatic dimensions of the Covid-19 pandemic lead to a reflection on the possibility of using collective protection mechanisms for damages linked to the management of the emergency and, more recently, the use of vaccines. The analysis is enriched today by the news regarding representative actions to protect consumers (Directive 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020, implemented in Italy with legislative decree 10 March 2023, no. 28) and therefore leads us to keep in mind the dual plan, of European and domestic law, of the relevant legislation, with a necessary coordination — as regards domestic law — with the previous remedies (especially with the class action governed by articles 840-bis ss. c.p.c.). The variety and breadth of the case studies on the subject, in fact, demonstrates that this could be one of the typical contexts in which the insufficiency of the classic individual remedy of aquilian liability is shown to manage conflicts generated by multi-offensive torts; however, it is a question of verifying whether these compensation paths lend themselves to being (better) protected with collective remedies, in light of the existence of a possible homogeneity of the affected interests.