All required testing must be carried out by drug makers to establish a medicine’s safety. And so that customers can make an educated choice, they must disclose any potential adverse effects on the packaging. You may be forced to bear injuries and compromised health if they don’t fulfill that obligation.
A prescription or over-the-counter medication that harms the body, the mind, or the emotions is considered a faulty drug. Miller, Dawson, Sigal, and Ward Personal Injury Law Firm in North Charleston, South Carolina, is here to help you get the compensation and justice you need after being injured by a defective medicine.
Keeping your pain to yourself isn’t acceptable, and neither is your situation. Your issues about defective pharmaceuticals can be addressed during a free, no-obligation initial consultation with our personal injury legal team.
Dangerous Drugs and Defective Drugs are More Common Than You Think
Even though new pharmaceuticals are subject to extensive testing and must adhere to CDC rules before being released to the public, it may take years to uncover harmful side effects and faults. Sadly, some drug makers think that the potential profits of these defective drugs outweigh public health risks.
Drug manufacturers often conceal critical information about a drug’s true dangers in order to gain FDA approval. Some pharmaceutical companies may even rush a medicine to market without doing enough tests. It’s not just wrong, but also potentially deadly, to act in such a careless manner.
The federal government has made it clear that drug companies that sell harmful products must compensate those they injure. If the negligence of the pharmaceutical industry has caused you injury or illness, you’ll need a North Charleston lawyer who has handled defective drug cases before to help you obtain compensation.
How Can I Prove a Drug Is Defective and Caused Me to Become Injured or Sick?
To win a product liability case, you must show that the plaintiff was harmed or lost money because of the defective drugs sold by the defendant. Physical harm, monetary losses, and other forms of “loss” incurred as a result of the use of the goods are all fair game.
Finally, any reasonable person would have known that this product was flawed after giving it a close, critical examination. It’s conceivable for a “defect” to originate from one of these three sources:
Design Defects
Design defects occur when a product is designed poorly. This means that the product was dangerous even before it left the manufacturer’s hands.
Manufacturing Defects
Manufacturing defects occur when a product is made incorrectly or with inferior materials, resulting in an unsafe product.
Marketing Defects
Marketing defects occur when a product is not accompanied by adequate warnings or instructions for use. This means that the manufacturer failed to provide sufficient information about the risks associated with using the product, which can lead to injury or illness.
Finally, the plaintiff must prove that the defect was the direct cause of their injury or losses. This means that it must be shown that the defect was what caused the injury and not some other factor. A defective drug attorney in North Charleston can help you to build a solid case.
Does a Drug Need to Be Recalled for Me to Have a Case?
There have been over 300 recalls in the past year due to product defects that posed safety risks to customers. Recalling a drug is the safest approach to ensure that it doesn’t make its way into the hands of consumers who could be harmed by it.
A recall is any step done voluntarily by a corporation to withdraw a potentially dangerous drug from circulation. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is in charge of ensuring the security of various healthcare and beauty goods, as well as OTC pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs, and medical equipment.
If a product has been recalled, it’s likely because of safety concerns and could be to blame for your injuries. You do not need a current recall to have a legitimate claim, though. It’s important to seek a case evaluation from a North Charleston defective drug lawyer to validate your claim.
Commonly Litigated Defective Drugs
Our lawyers for defective pharmaceuticals have witnessed victims of harm caused by many different medications, such as:
- Serzone
- Prilosec
- Nexium
- Prevacid
- Protonix
- Zicam
- Zantac
- Raptiva
- Zoloft
- Paxil
- Yaz -Yasmin
- Haldol
- Chantix
- Xarelto
- Actos
- Duetact
- Byetta
- Januvia
- Lipitor
- Tylenol
- Fosomax
- Ephedra
- Crestor
- Talcum powder
Medical devices can also be defective and lead to devastating injuries or fatalities. For example, thousands of women around the nation have been injured by defective transvaginal mesh implants, and we’ve helped them recover compensation.
The items on this list are not comprehensive. Even if the substance or device that caused you harm isn’t listed here, that doesn’t imply you have no case.
You can discuss your situation in a free consultation with one of our North Charleston defective drug attorneys. We’ll look through your claim and let you know where you stand.
Defective Drug Product Liability Claim Vs. Mass Tort or Class Action Lawsuit Claims
Cases involving defective products are unique in that they do not require the plaintiff to prove that the defendant was negligent, as they must in most personal injury lawsuits. Instead, all that must be shown is that there existed a defect in the product and that this defect caused the injury.
If successful, then the product’s manufacturer or seller will be held liable for the injuries or losses suffered by victims. This is known as a product liability case. In some instances, hundreds or even thousands of people will step forward to take action against a company because of their injuries.
When this happens, a class action lawsuit or mass tort litigation become a possibility. Your lawyer will know if a particular drug may be subject to class action litigation. These cases are very complex but may be beneficial because it’s hard to disprove the claims of numerous people.
These types of claims can frequently also be handled by a North Carolina defective drug lawyer.
Damages Considered in a Defective Drug Case
The extent of your injuries and other losses will determine how much compensation you are entitled to in your dangerous drug lawsuit. Damages that can be recovered when a consumer is hurt by a defective medicine include:
- All medical costs, past, present, and future
- Expenses incurred due to inability to work or loss of previous earnings
- Pain and suffering
- Disability and disfigurement
- Emotional distress, mental anguish
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium
In order to assess how much compensation you are entitled to, a North Charleston defective drug attorney will examine the extent of your damages. The monetary value of economic damages is easily provable with records, such as the cost of your medical care.
However, it may be more complicated to put a price tag on your non-monetary losses. Our lawyers can evaluate your damages and ensure that your case is fairly valued.
Contact a North Charleston Defective Drug Law Firm Today
Miller, Dawson, Sigal, and Ward Law Firm in North Charleston, South Carolina, is recognized as an industry leader in representing clients who have sustained serious injuries from dangerous or defective drugs.
Our personal injury lawyers and product liability attorneys have extensive experience and knowledge in dealing with these complicated cases. Rest assured that you are receiving the best advice and most competent representation available.
If you live or work in North Charleston and may be entitled to fair compensation for your injuries, please do not hesitate to call our defective drug injury lawyers for a free consultation to learn about your legal options today.