You visit a doctor’s office expecting relief from your suffering. Not once do you think the drugs that were to help may end up causing you untold suffering and in some cases even death. Side effects are common and usually not dangerous as they are expected. But for a group of people, prescription and over-the-counter medications left them with serious conditions like kidney and liver failure, heart attack cancers among others.
The manufacturers of these drugs choose not to disclose some side effects. Others are not aware because the drug did not go through the prerequisite testing. The reason it’s on the rise is mainly also because of patients suffering from rare and terminal diseases with no other hope.
If you or a loved one has suffered harm from a drug whose side effects or ingredients were not aware of, you can claim compensation. You can file a personal injury claim, a class-action lawsuit, or a wrongful death claim.
But how do these drugs end up in the market in the first place? There have been allegations of the FDA’s fast-tracking approval of some expensive medications. With some of these companies funding part of their budget, there are fears of proper clinical trials not being carried out. The results are drugs that even doctors are not sure of their safety.
Major side effects that you can file a claim
These are some major side effects caused by drugs that were never disclosed to patients that you can sue the manufacturers for:
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Kidney failure
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Liver failure
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Blindness
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Heart attack
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Stroke
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Birth defects
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Physical disorders
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Blood clots
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Increased cancer risks and sometimes, cancer
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Increased suicidal thoughts
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Brain disorders
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Nervous system disorders
Dangerous drug claims
These three types of claims you can file;
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Failure to warn lawsuits: In this case, allegations that the manufacturer did not clearly or properly show the warning on the packaging or the pillbox. Also, the prescribing doctor did not explain to the patient the expected side effect. You can also prove they did not truthfully represent the side effects, for example, the effects occur more frequently than showed.
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Defective design lawsuits: When you can prove that the formulation of a certain drug handles the dangerous side effects.
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Defective manufacturing lawsuits: In this lawsuit, you prove that the manufacturing process caused dangerous side effects. You show that maybe there was contamination in the manufacturing that resulted in the side effects.
In a dangerous drug claim, they can hold many parties liable for the resulting side effect. These include but not limited to;
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Different drug manufacturers
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Doctors
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Health facilities
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Sales representatives
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Pharmacists
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Laboratories, etc.
The only requirement is that you prove they knew of the harm but misrepresented the facts or did not disclose. An attorney will help you figure this out.
For you to prove this claim, three things must happen;
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Show you suffered harm or injury. You prove you didn’t have a problem before using the drug, but
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Show that the injury or harm resulted from the defective drug. You can show prescriptions by doctors and receipts over a long period.
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Show that the drug was defective because of design, manufacturing, or failure to warn
These are the kinds of cases that should be handled by a lawyer. The professionals from Bertram Law Group suggest hiring a lawyer to support you with the case. These experts will help you get compensation for losing your quality of life because of these dangerous drugs.
Compensation in a dangerous drug case depends on a few factors mainly;
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Impact on the current and future health
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Impact on quality of life, for example, can you enjoy the things you used to enjoy
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it has affected your finance
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it has affected those close to you
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Current and future medical bills
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Impact on life overall i.e. finances health, etc.
Drug regulations and compensation
Perhaps because the FDA approves drugs into the market, it should be liable for dangerous drugs. But the FDA is a government agency and therefore protected by sovereign immunity rule.
This rule protects the government agencies and their employees from prosecution because of acts that arise while performing their duties. For example, even if a drug turns out to be dangerous in the future, you cannot sue the employees who approved it as they are exempt. The only way they can be is through a personal injury claim that is non-drug related.
But the government came up with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program when lawsuits were threatening to cripple the national vaccine program. The program aims to compensate those who suffer side effects from vaccines. If you or a family member suffers an adverse reaction from taking a vaccine, you can take legal action. It is advisable to hire a lawyer to claim compensation for you. The program covers fees and costs. This is the only instant the government pays compensation for drugs’ side effects.
Rewards of filing claim
Dangerous drug cases can be very intimidating as you are dealing with huge corporations with a team of lawyers, and they are not willing to accept liability. But the rewards if you win are many.
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Compensation for harm to your health
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Compensation for pain and sufferings
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Holding those responsible accountable for their actions
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Promoting policy change
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Making sure it harms no one else
Most drugs have side effects and this is common. Companies producing the dangerous drugs need accountability. This can only happen when those affected file claims and cause recall of these drugs. The task against large multinationals may seem uphill, but with an excellent attorney backing your compensation is possible. An attorney will help decide on who to hold accountable for that chain and also help in calculating your claim. Attorneys will make a choice between a malpractice case against a doctor or a high-profile case against a drug company. An attorney may also advise you on whether a class action suit is more suited or a personal claim is better. You should always remember having an attorney’s contact may come in handy.
