But others cautioned that jurors might not share the same views as the population at large.

Improved Reputation

The Harris Poll reported in February that 62% of Americans gave the pharmaceutical industry a positive rating, a dramatic increase from the 32% rating drug companies positive in January 2020, shortly before the pandemic hit the U.S.

The dramatic upswing in perception "stems directly from pharma's proactive response to COVID-19," the Harris Poll said.

Another poll, from Data for Progress, found 56% of Americans had a favorable view of pharmaceutical companies in late March, and 24% had an unfavorable view.

This is a big change from a November 2019 poll by the same organization, which found 48% had a favorable view of pharma companies and 38% had an unfavorable view.

The pharmaceutical industry's improvement in reputation "had to do with their key role in getting us through the pandemic," according to a March report by RepTrak, a company that reports on reputations of corporations.

"If there was ever a year for pharma to move from an 'average' to a 'strong' score, it was in 2021. Pharma will likely see a bigger bump in 2022 as more people get vaccinated," the RepTrak report said.

RepTrak found in a survey in the third quarter of 2020 that 40% of U.S. respondents had a more positive view of the pharmaceutical industry than before the pandemic.

Implications for Verdicts

It's possible that more favorable views of pharmaceutical companies will yield more defense verdicts, said David Noll, a professor at Rutgers Law School in Newark, New Jersey, who writes about multidistrict litigation.

That improvement will have the most impact on the bellwether trials that are a feature of multidistrict litigation, Noll said.

Bellwether trials are supposed to guide settlement negotiations by producing verdicts that highlight the strength of the parties' claims and defenses, he says.

However, Noll cautions that a jury's attitudes might not match up with those of the population at large.

"How a particular case is presented is more important than the jury's general attitudes toward the defendant. So in the end, I think the effect of these attitudes on verdicts and settlements will most likely be small," Noll said.

Ellen Relkin, who handles drug litigation at Weitz & Luxenberg in New York, said the improved public profile of drug companies during the pandemic is "a concern that has crossed my mind."

Relkin anticipates filing motions in limine in defective drug trials to prevent pharmaceutical manufacturers from telling jurors about their role in fighting COVID-19. If such motions are not allowed, Relkin said, she would be prepared to tell jurors how much money drug companies received from the federal government to develop those vaccines.

Potential jurors' attitudes might have changed by the time any drug trials get underway, Relkin said.

Christopher Placitella, a drug defect lawyer at Cohen, Placitella & Roth in Red Bank, New Jersey, likewise anticipates filing motions in limine to prevent defense lawyers from trying to tell jurors about their industry's role in fighting the pandemic.

Placitella said plaintiffs have continued to find victory in jurisdictions that have continued to hold drug defect trials during the pandemic. As for the possibility that drug companies will experience a boost in reputation during the pandemic, he can accept that.

"If I'm trying a case against Moderna [a developer of a COVID-19 vaccine], there's going to be a positive impression and you're going to have to deal with it," he said. "I'm OK with it. I think if you have the evidence, those biases are easily overcome."

But recent problems with Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine could erode any improvement in the reputations of drug companies, said another lawyer who sues drug companies, Thomas Kline of Kline & Specter in Philadelphia. He cites a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll finding fewer than 1 in 4 Americans not yet immunized against the coronavirus say they are willing to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The federal government put a 10-day "pause" on use of the vaccine after a handful of users experienced blood clots.

"The J&J debacle has already neutralized any glow that big pharma might have gained in public perception because they came up with a vaccine," Kline said.

Prospective jurors in drug defect trials are typically questioned about their view of drug companies in voir dire and those with the strongest opinions are usually excused, Kline said.

"The great in between will remain, and won't be bowled over by the fact that three pharmaceutical companies have created vaccines that were approved by the FDA, only two of which are held in high regard," Kline said.