What To Know About Filing A Prescription Medication-Related Personal Injury Lawsuit
While prescription medication helps millions of individuals manage life-threatening conditions, it's possible for some prescription drugs to harm more than they help. This may be the case when a medical professional hasn't considered your entire medical history when prescribing a drug or when a pharmaceutical company hasn't been honest about the risks associated with a drug.
If you've been harmed by prescription medication, a personal injury lawsuit may be an alternative to help you obtain compensation. Here's what you need to know about filing a lawsuit related to injury from prescription medication.
Lawsuits Related to Harm from Prescription Drugs are Known as Defective Product Liability Cases
If a personal injury attorney believes that you have sufficient evidence to prove your case, you'll file a defective product liability lawsuit. This means that the prescription medication was produced or engineered in a defective manner or that the product did not sufficiently warn users about the risks associated with taking the medication.
For example, if a medication doesn't contain the correct amount of ingredients, this is considered defective manufacturing. If the medication is supposed to be slowly released into your body but is released all at once, this would be defective engineering.
Or, if a medication is associated with a higher chance of liver damage, and the literature with your prescription doesn't convey this information, this is an example of not providing sufficient warning about the prescription's potential side effects.
The Entity That You Sue May Vary
Your personal injury lawsuit will likely be against the drug's manufacturer if there's evidence that the medication wasn't produced properly. However, if your medical provider was negligent when prescribing the medication, it's possible your litigation may be against your doctor. Should the pharmacy that distributes the medication make an error when filling your prescription, they're another possible target for your legal case.
Sometimes, multiple entities may be included in your lawsuit. You'll need to give the specifics of your case to your personal injury attorney so that they can advise you of your best course of action.
You Must be Harmed to Have a Case
The chance that you might have been harmed by taking the medication isn't sufficient case for litigation. For example, if a medication is associated with suicidal thoughts and you stop taking it because you become concerned about this side effect during a period of high stress, you won't have a case.
Or, if you suffer minor side effects (like a headache or rash) that cause no real injury, you're unlikely to be awarded compensation for your injuries.
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