When you take a medication prescribed by your doctor or recommended by your pharmacist—or even a drug you saw advertised on tv—you expect it make you feel better. If instead of experiencing symptom relief, you develop new symptoms or become seriously ill, you might have been the victim of a dangerous drug.
Manufacturers must ensure the safety of the drugs they put on the market, and the Food and Drug Administration is supposed to regulate medications to prevent harm to consumers. But the system is imperfect, and unsafe medications cause severe health problems in unsuspecting patients all the time.
If you experienced a serious side effect or developed a health problem from taking medication, you could hold the drug’s manufacturer liable for your injuries. With help from a seasoned injury attorney, you could receive monetary damages to compensate your losses. Consult a Pearland dangerous drugs lawyer for advice about getting the restitution you deserve.
Health Issues Related to Harmful Medications
Side effects from medications vary widely from drug to drug and from person to person. An individual’s unique biological makeup, their health at the time they ingested the medication, and other factors could impact the way a dangerous medication affects their body. Nonetheless, certain severe side effects are common, including:
- Developing or worsening diabetes
- Heart attacks and heart valve infections
- Aneurysms and strokes
- Organ damage, especially to the kidney, spleen, liver, stomach, and digestive track
- Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis
This is just a partial list of some of the many severe side effects associated with frequently prescribed drugs. A Pearland injury lawyer could help you get justice from a manufacturer if you experienced severe side effects of any kind after taking an unsafe medication.
Do Product Liability Laws Apply to Dangerous Drugs?
The Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code §82.001 (2) holds a manufacturer strictly liable for the damage their product causes. However, to prevail in a lawsuit, your local attorney must prove that the medication the patient received was defective in its design, manufactured improperly, or carried inadequate warnings.
Proving a design defect requires you to prove that other, economically feasible designs are available and would produce a drug that is as effective but safer. Proving the existence of a feasible and safer alternative requires the testimony of experts.
If the drug is usually safe but the particular batch you used was not, you might allege a manufacturing defect. Expert testimony is required to demonstrate how a specific production line failure could lead to the issue that caused you harm.
An inadequate label is the third defect that could create liability for the manufacturer. Medication labels must warn consumers about known side effects, interactions with other substances, contraindications, and all other information that could help a consumer decide whether to use a particular drug.
Recoverable Damages in Pearland
You must have suffered verifiable or documentable losses to receive compensation. A fear of developing a complication or side effect, or even an increased chance of developing the feared condition, is not compensated unless you actually develops the condition and suffers losses because of it.
Damages could cover unreimbursed medical expenses, incidental costs, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity. You could also collect damages for the mental distress, physical pain, disfigurement, disability, or diminished quality of life you experience due to your exposure to the dangerous drug.
A Pearland lawyer could produce receipts, Explanation of Benefits forms, tax returns, and other proof of the expenses you incurred as a result of the defective medicine. Testimony from you, your health care providers, and your family, friends, and associates could offer proof of your subjective losses.
Seek Guidance from a Pearland Dangerous Drugs Attorney
Pharmaceutical liability claims require specific skills and knowledge. A Pearland dangerous drugs lawyer understands how to evaluate these cases and present them most effectively. You have only a limited time to file a lawsuit, so schedule a consultation today.