Medications are often an important way to treat illness and prevent diseases. While we all know that medications may come with some side effects, we don’t expect them to be serious enough to result in injury or death. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical injuries happen all too often, with devastating consequences to the victim.
All pharmaceutical drugs are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and must receive approval before reaching the market. However, the approval process isn’t perfect and dangerous drugs make it through FDA screening on occasion.
In addition, pharmaceutical companies have millions of dollars invested in these drugs during the research and development process, giving them a strong incentive to make sure these medications make it to market. When drug manufacturers put profits over the safety of consumers, it can result in devastating injuries.
If you’ve taken a medication that resulted in a serious injury, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your damages. Pharmaceutical injury cases are highly complex, and it’s important to work with an experienced attorney who has the vast resources necessary to battle the high-powered legal teams employed by negligent drug manufacturers.
Types of Pharmaceutical Injury Claims
There are three different types of pharmaceutical injury claims:
- Drugs that were defectively manufactured – Your injury was caused by a problem associated with the manufacturing process. This can involve an error at the manufacturing plant, a problem occurring during shipping or a labeling error.
- Drugs that cause dangerous side effects – These drugs were manufactured properly, but they have harmful side effects that can result in serious injury. Often, a drug can be on the market for years before these harmful side effects are discovered. In some situations, pharmaceutical companies were aware of these side effects, but made a deliberate effort to conceal the risks.
- Drugs that were improperly marketed – These cases arise when the drug’s warnings, instructions or recommendations fail to provide adequate or accurate information regarding safe usage or regarding any harmful side effects associated with the medication.
In some instances, your lawsuit may involve a combination of these types of claims. For example, you may have a claim based on a dangerous side effect as well as a failure of the drug company to adequately warn you of these risks.
Who Can Be Held Liable in Pharmaceutical Injury Claims?
There are many parties that may potentially be held liable in a drug injury case. In order to maximize the value of your compensation, your attorney will need to carefully evaluate the circumstances of your injury to ensure all liable parties are involved in the lawsuit. These may include:
- Drug manufacturer – If inadequate research and testing was done before bringing a drug to market or if the manufacturer attempted to withhold information about dangerous side effects, the manufacturer may be held liable for your injuries.
- Testing laboratory – Often, third party labs are used in testing drugs before they come to market. If the lab made a mistake during the testing process, they may be held liable.
- Pharmaceutical sales rep – Sales reps employed by drug companies will meet with healthcare professionals to recommend their products. These reps may be held liable if they made inaccurate statements during their recommendation of a drug that caused your injury.
- Doctor – The doctor may be liable if they prescribed a drug when other physicians would not have in that situation, or if they failed to warn you about potential side effects prior to prescribing the medication.
- Pharmacy – The pharmacist may be held liable if they filled the wrong medication or dosage, or if they failed to provide adequate instructions regarding proper usage of the drug.
Damages in a Drug Injury Lawsuit
Depending on the specifics of your case, you may be entitled to recover compensation for:
- Current and future medical expenses associated with your injury
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Diminished quality of life, if you suffered a permanent injury
- Funeral or burial expenses, in cases involving the death of a loved one
In situations where the drug manufacturer knowingly withheld information about harmful side effects, you may also be able to receive punitive damages. An experienced attorney will help ensure your damages reflect the total extent of your loss.
