Pharmaceutical companies constantly release new products to the market, many of which are adequately tested, safe, and effective. However, there are far too many instances of dangerous or defective drugs getting into the hands of consumers and causing grave or even fatal harm. When you suffer injuries from a dangerous drug that causes unknown or undisclosed side effects, you may have legal grounds to file a lawsuit seeking compensation for your damages.
Common Side Effects and Injuries from Defective Drugs
When a drug is designed, manufactured, or marketed incorrectly, consumers could suffer terrible side effects that outweigh the potential benefits of taking the medication. These side effects can range from short-term issues to long-term or even life-threatening physical injuries.
Some examples of commonly reported side effects and injuries from dangerous or defective drugs include:
- Stroke
- Blood clots
- Heart failure
- Liver damage
- Internal bleeding
Pancreatitis, kidney damage, cancers, and chronic pain ailments can also result from unreasonably dangerous drug side effects. These types of devastating side effects have been reported from a wide variety of drugs ranging from anticoagulants to antidepressants to simple pain relievers.
If you have suffered these or other injuries after taking a medication, you could be entitled to multiple forms of financial damages in a successful lawsuit against the drug company. Recoverable compensation could include the value of your economic damages—like medical bills and lost income—as well as non-economic damages—such as pain, suffering, and emotional distress.
Legal Grounds to Sue a Pharmaceutical Company for Side Effects
Every drug has side effects, and simply experiencing side effects does not automatically give you legal grounds to sue a pharmaceutical company. However, if a drug is defective, which results in unreasonable side effects and injuries, you may be eligible to file a lawsuit seeking monetary damages.
A drug can be considered defective because of flawed manufacturing, design, or marketing. If the drug that hurt you is defective, the manufacturer may be strictly liable for your injuries—which means you don’t have to show that they were negligent to recover compensation.
In other cases, a drug injury claim may hinge upon whether or not the pharmaceutical company acted negligently. Sometimes, it may be possible to prove that the drug manufacturer knew about the negative side effects but concealed that fact or found out after the drug was commercialized, but did not notify the appropriate parties to ensure consumers were properly warned about this information.
Depending on the facts and circumstances of your injury, not only the drug manufacturer, but the distributor, retailer, wholesaler, and any other parties in the drug distribution chain could bear a measure of legal responsibility for your harm.
Unfortunately, you can be assured that the pharmaceutical company’s insurance carrier and legal team will use every tool in their toolkit to prevent your financial recovery. Or they may offer you a low settlement that doesn’t even come close to reflecting the full value of your damages and losses. When it comes to pursuing full and fair compensation for side effects that you have experienced from a dangerous or defective drug, you need to make sure that you have a legal team that is unrivaled in experience, competence, and dedication to get you every penny you deserve.
