Frequently Asked Questions

If a drug or medical devices has caused you injury, caused the death of a loved one, or resulted in serious side effects, you may be able to file a lawsuit to pursue compensation for both financial loss and for pain and suffering. This would be a form of product liability suit and can be a solo suit, a mass tort, or a class action suit.

Pharmaceutical companies and others involved in the industry will have a team of experienced lawyers on the ready to defend them against a legal challenge, but with a skilled product liability attorney on your side, you stand a good chance of a win.

It is not uncommon for plaintiffs in wrongful injury or wrongful death cases to receive tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even multiple millions of dollars in total compensation. But how is this compensation calculated?

First of all, all medical expenses, loss of income, loss of ability to work the same job in the future, rehabilitation and ongoing treatment costs, and other financial impacts can be calculated for 100% compensation. But physical pain, mental and emotional distress, loss of companionship of a loved one, and punitive damages may also be included.

The exact rules for victim compensation in product liability cases vary from state to state. Oftentimes, states may have a cap on non-economic damages - either a dollar amount per case, per individual, or per particular type of claim OR a multiplier of the amount of economic damages collected.

Many states set up these artificial limits to guard against frivolous lawsuits and to try to keep down costs of medical care. However, not all states have damage caps, and the ones that do usually have them set fairly high.

In many states, there is a statute of limitations on product liability and other types of injury cases. This "time limit" runs from the date of the injury or the date when the injury was (or should have been) discovered. Different types of cases and different state laws set up different time limits, but a two-year statute of limitations is fairly common.

One common type of lawsuit often filed in regard to injuries or deaths caused by medical products is based on a failure to properly warn the consumer. The warning label may have omitted important information or may have made it unclear or not sufficiently prominent.

Failure to Warn is technically a marketing defect. It involves the lack of instructions for proper and safe use or a failure to properly warn users of the product about possible side effects and problems that could occur even when used properly.

When a product is basically safe in itself but a particular item or batch of that product is produced in a way that is very unsafe, it can form the basis of a defective manufacturing suit. If there is negligence of some sort committed by manufacturers, or just a factory error that goes undetected, consumers are put at risk.

Some states hold all manufacturers strictly liable for manufacturer's defects even if they followed all safety regulations and were not negligent in doing all they could to prevent it. But other states limit manufacturers' liabilities to a greater degree.

A third kind of product liability suit often filed in connection with high-risk medical devices is called defective design. This means that the product is allegedly "inherently dangerous." It is not that a manufacturing error occurred that led to some of these products becoming dangerous - they are all dangerous even when manufactured "correctly."

When large numbers of users of a product are injured, and in a similar way, from the same product, it's much more likely that a defective design suit can succeed. Although it may take years, the FDA will likely eventually remove these sorts of medical products from the market. Lawsuits may cause manufacturers to recall and discontinue such products even without the FDA taking action.

You cannot file suit against a drug or medical device manufacturer or distributor if the error lay with the physician or surgeon alone. If the wrong drug was prescribed, or in the wrong dosage, or if a surgeon used a medical device in an incorrect and dangerous way, then you would need to file a medical malpractice suit instead of a product liability suit.

Some sort of negligence would have to be shown on the part of the medical worker or institution being sued. It must be shown that they acted in a way not consistent with the "ordinary care" that would be expected from other medical practitioners if in the same situation.

Under mass tort law, one judge can be assigned to handle a large number of very similar tort cases. When large numbers of people are injured by the same medical product for similar reasons, it would unnecessarily "clog up" the court system to have each case handled individually.

The presiding court will gather together evidence, testimony, and other information from all cases in the mass tort group. However, settlements will from plaintiff to plaintiff based on the degree to which they were injured and other factors.

A class action lawsuit is very similar to a mass tort case, but instead of numerous individual cases handled by one judge, it's a matter of one individual or small group filing on behalf of a larger group of people who have suffered similar wrongful injuries.

If a settlement or judgment is achieved, then everyone who was injured by a particular medical product in a particular way can submit a claim to receive a percentage of the total compensation. A plan for alerting others who may have been injured is set up by the "lead plaintiff" and his/her lawyer.

The complexity of the legal system and the plethora of laws and court processes affecting your case mean that it's almost impossible for someone to navigate the system without professional legal help. To win your case and get a fair settlement, and do it in a reasonable amount of time, the expertise and "clout" of an experienced tort lawyer are indispensable.

Before you can get included in a mass tort or class action suit, or even get a lawyer to take on your case, you first have to show that you have a legitimate, winnable case to begin with. If you do, you shouldn't have any trouble getting a skilled attorney to help you, and they usually only get paid with a percentage of the settlement if (and only if) you win.

To evaluate your case, your lawyer will have to ask you about what kind of injury you suffered from, when, how, and with what drug or medical device being involved. Be prepared to "share your story." You may not be sure if you have a case, or if so, how to proceed. The free case evaluation will clarify these issues.

There is always some level of risk with any medical product, but some of them stand out as far more risky than others. If a product has a history of severe and relatively common side effects, if it has been subjected to multiple recalls in the past, or if it has been the subject of large numbers of high profile injury lawsuits - it is in the "high-risk" category.

There are some medical products - even FDA approved ones, that are so dangerous no one should ever use them. However, many other high-risk drugs and medical devices are sometimes worth the risk for certain patients. It depends on how risky, what particular kinds of risks, and the alternatives that exist that may be less risky. It also depends on the situation of the patient if he or she does nothing - it's a personal, case by case decision making process.

Defibrillator implants are among the riskiest of all cardiac-related medical devices. They have caused tens of thousands of deaths over the past decade, and there have been two major recalls and 90 total recalls of such devices.

Vena cava filters, which are invaluable in preventing life-threatening blood clots short term, have also proved dangerous in some cases when left in longer than necessary.

Crestor, a cardiac drug used to treat a wide range of heart conditions, can sometimes cause diabetes or kidney failure. Praxada, used for thinning the blood, and Zocor, intended to control cholesterol levels, also have demonstrated serious side effects.

Certain drugs used to treat depression and other psychological disorders have often proven to have dangerous side effects. SNRI & SSRI serotonin inhibitors, for example, can result in suicidal thoughts, birth defects, and a desire for isolation post-treatment.

Also, Risperdal, an anti-psychotic drug, can lead to a deficiency of white blood cells. And Abilify can cause gambling disorders, excessive weight gain, and involuntary bodily movements.

Fluoroquinolones are antibiotics used to fight very strong infections. Over 30 million American use them every year. And yet, they have been known to cause tendon problems, nerve damage, and other serious side effects in some users.

While MRIs are sometimes necessary and are safe in themselves, the metallic substance known as gadolinium, which is used to enhance the contrast and clarity of MRI results, can become toxic to some patients. It can also cause other serious, even life threatening, conditions as well.

Knee replacement surgeries are increasingly common in the US, and some form of artificial knee joint has been available since the 1800's. Modern knee replacements are far safer than their predecessors and deliver much more mobility, comfort, and longevity than did earlier models.

Nonetheless, failure or malfunction of artificial knees and joints, or metallosis, blood clotting, excessive pain and swelling, nerve damage, bone and tissue damage, and more are all too common. Artificial knees have also been known to slip loose and force a corrective surgery.

Hip replacements are also becoming more and more common, but the risks inherent with this kind of major surgery and use of an internally placed medical device are significant. Relief of pain from arthritis, bone tumors, or other causes, and regaining mobility after a fall and bone fracture in the hip area are two major reasons for undergoing this procedure.

The main risks of getting a hip replacement include: the device can loosen and cause pain or a fall, the device may cause a bone fracture, soft tissues in and around the hip joint may ossify, bone death may occur, and with some types of hip replacement, metal poisoning is possible.

There has been a flurry of lawsuits based on serious injuries caused by malfunctioning "meshes" of various types. The two most common types of high-risk meshes are hernia meshes and transvaginal meshes.

Hernia mesh products often have failed and required revision surgery. They also sometimes damage body tissue, get loose and attach to another part of the body, or in the case of the C-Qur mesh, cause a reaction to the fish oil coating.

Transvaginal meshes are used to treat such things as pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence. But when used to treat prolapse, these mesh devices have often caused infection, severe pain, and the erosion of the mesh material into the body, among other side effects and device failures.

Even treating something as seemingly simple as acne can expose patients to various side effects. The main negative side effect is birth defects, which is why you should never take Accutane if pregnant or if you might soon become pregnant.

Note that Yaz and Yasmin were hailed as "miracle" pills that would treat acne and effect birth control at the same time - without water retention. But both of them proved to have severe, and sometimes scary side effects. Be careful with birth control and acne drugs, because there are a good many of them that are extremely high-risk and that have to be taken in a very precise way to be safe at all.

When you have water retention somewhere in your body, your doctor may well prescribe you a diuretic to get rid of it. While sometimes necessary, be aware that some diuretics are very high-risk drugs. Side effects like allergic reactions and kidney failure have been reported in some cases.

Inactivated vaccines like a flu shot are usually very safe, but there are also "live" vaccines that pose a greater risk of negative side effects. In either case, it's possible that infection, allergic reaction, shoulder injury, or fainting could occur.

If a serious disease or other medical condition results from a vaccine, or if you suspect it has, you can contact the FDA, file a petition VICP to get compensation, or file a lawsuit.

It's particularly devastating when a death or very serious and/or permanent injury or disease occurs due to a contaminated or otherwise defective vaccination shot. After all, vaccines are supposed to protect you from disease, not cause it. But you are not without recourse if you suffer from a dangerous or defective vaccine.