I may be chastized for asking this question here, but I also read about a chinese airliner encountering a similar problem last week (MD82) and descended at such a rate that several people were treated for ear problems, etc.
I always assumed that under the initiating conditions (high altitude) that the masks would drop and then the descent rate would be set to provide a safe margin before blackout (for those that bothered to don their masks).
My question is there a typical rate for descent for this condition?