Drug Lawsuits

Medical advances have spurred tremendous growth for the pharmaceutical and medical device industry in recent decades. Manufacturers promote the benefits of new drugs and medical devices so effectively that their brands often become household names.

Too often, though, consumers searching for the advertised benefits instead find unexpected dangers. Injuries result when some companies fail to properly manufacture, test, or warn consumers about risks related to their products.

Some medical products are at once beneficial and extremely dangerous. They often hit the market with a lot of fanfare, and it usually takes time for widespread injuries to come to light.

When those injuries happen, people sue.

Why not? Although medical product liability is a complex area of law, it is in place to help consumers who are wronged or injured. The trick is to know how to prove your case and to understand exactly what you’re up against.

Filing successful lawsuits against drug and medical device companies can pose challenges, but it is possible with help from a products liability attorney.

Holding Drug and Medical Device Companies Accountable

U.S. consumers are familiar with the laundry list of warnings that often accompany drugs and medical devices. The companies that manufacture, sell and distribute these companies usually anticipate that some injuries may occur. For this reason, they have many strategies for dealing with lawsuits. That is why it is wise to talk to a qualified attorney who is familiar with these cases if you think you have a claim.

The pharmaceutical industry is nicknamed Big Pharma in part because of its powerful lobbying machine, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). And Big Pharma has lobbied successfully for laws and regulations that limit its financial liability and reduce litigation for certain risks.

If you have been injured by a drug or medical device, be sure to consult a lawyer about laws which may affect your legal rights. For example:

  • The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act establishes a claim procedure for vaccine-related injuries. Consult a lawyer about potentially filing a claim versus filing a lawsuit for these types of injuries.
  • The Medical Device Amendments of 1976 often bars state court claims against products that receive FDA approval. However, a qualified attorney can help determine whether a company failed to comply with FDA regulations and caused your injury.

An experienced lawyer can also explain how drug and medical device companies defend themselves in lawsuits. For example, a lawyer can assist with the following legal issues:

  • Unavoidably Unsafe Products: Some products, including many prescription drugs and medical devices, cannot be made safe for their “intended or ordinary use.” Although “unavoidably unsafe products” can cause serious injury, they are not considered defective or unreasonably dangerous. In other words, product liability law creates an exception for these products that often benefits drug and device companies. That is why it is difficult to challenge an unavoidably unsafe drug accompanied by an appropriate warning.

Experienced lawyers can help you challenge the adequacy of drug and device warnings. They can also help you show how a manufacturer could have taken steps to make the product safer or market it more appropriately.

  • Medical Malpractice: Defendants sometimes argue that injuries that a medical professional’s mistake, rather than a product defect, caused the injury. A doctor or nurse may have ignored product warnings or properly instruct a patient. An experienced attorney can help you determine who is responsible for your injury.

Manufacturers, distributors and sellers have a responsibility to the public to deliver products that are free of defects and foresee potential risks. This responsibility is generally known as product liability. Plaintiffs may file legal claims for injuries caused by product defects. In fact, dangerous drugs and faulty medical devices account for many product liability claims.

Products liability claims fall under the following categories:

  • Design Defects – These are cases where it is possible to foresee that a product will cause an injury due to its design. The manufacturer may be able to avoid or reduce the injury by changing the way the product is made.
  • Marketing Defects – These are cases where the manufacturer or others give inadequate instructions or warnings or simply fails to warn consumers about a product’s foreseeable risks.
  • Manufacturing Defects – These are cases where design and marketing are proper, but a mistake occurs during the manufacturing process that leads to a defect.

Medical product liability claims may fall under any of the above categories. If a product has any of these defects, its manufacturer, seller or distributor may be financially liable for any resulting injuries.

Drugwatch.com provides general information about medical products liability. Contact a qualified products liability lawyer for specific advice about filing a claim for your injuries.

Sources:

  1. Media Education Foundation documentary Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease & Pushing Drugs, available at http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=224.
  2. Almashat, Sammy et al., Rapidly Increasing Criminal and Civil Monetary Penalties Against the Pharmaceutical Industry: 1991 to 2010 (Dec. 16, 2010).
  3. The Eleven Most Implanted Medical Devices in America, available at http://247wallst.com/2011/07/18/the-eleven-most-implanted-medical-devices-in-america/.
  4. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Understanding Barriers to Medical Device Quality (Oct. 31, 2011).
  5. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20120119/Merck-to-pay-millions-to-settle-lawsuits-in-Canada-120119/
  6. U.S. International Trade Administration, Medical Device Industry Assessment (March 24, 2010).
  7. Fuchs, Erin, Product Liability Cases to Watch in 2012, Law360 (Jan. 1, 2012).
  8. Briehl v. Geb. Motors Corp., 172 f.3d. 623 (8th Cir. 1999).
  9. Coghlan v. Wellcraft Marine Corp., 240 F.3d 449 (5th Cir. 2001).
  10. Wyeth v. Levine, — U.S. – (2009).
  11. In re Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 05-1708 (D. Minn. June 12, 2007).
  12. Richard C. Ausness, Unavoidably Unsafe Products and Strict Products Liability: What Liability Rule Should be Applied to the Sellers of Pharmaceutical Products?, 78 Ky. L.J. 705 (2009).
  13. http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/DeviceApprovalsandClearances/PMAApprovals/default.htm.