For the most part, the over-the-counter and prescription medications that millions of Americans depend on each day can be trusted to work more or less as advertised with minimal harmful side effects. Unfortunately, numerous exceptions to this trend still pop up every year, and manufacturers are often unable — or sometimes even unwilling — to issue recalls before the product they made and sold causes serious harm to hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
Taking legal action against a pharmaceutical company that sold you a defective or dangerous medication is never a simple process, and it is not something you should try doing without the support of an experienced Flagstaff dangerous drugs lawyer. Fortunately, the help you need is available from Phillips Law Group, where our personal injury attorneys have decades of experience fighting for the rights of people like you and taking claims all the way to civil court if necessary to get injured people the compensation they deserve.
Possible Grounds for a Dangerous Drugs Lawsuit
Rather than the legal theory of “negligence,” which is what most personal injury lawsuits are built around, dangerous drug litigation generally revolves around the legal theory of “strict liability” established under product liability law. In practice, this means that instead of proving a drug company did something specifically reckless or careless which led to a consumer getting hurt or sick, the injured or ill consumer just has to prove that all the following conditions are met in order to have valid grounds for a lawsuit:
- The product made by the company — in this scenario, a medication or medical product — was “defective” in one of three specific ways
- The “defect” in the product existed when the product left its maker’s direct control
- The product’s condition did not meaningfully change between when it left its maker’s direct control and when the impacted consumer obtained it
- The consumer suffered physical harm seriously enough to need professional medical care as a direct result of the defect
- The consumer was using the product for its intended purpose or otherwise in a reasonable way when they were hurt
A Flagstaff dangerous drugs attorney can help take legal action over defects in design which make a drug unreasonably dangerous for everyone, defects in manufacturing which lead to a specific batch of medication being contaminated, or defects in “marketing” which lead to the consumer not being properly warned about a drug’s side effects and/or contraindications.
Recovering for All Available Damages
Both economic and non-economic damages may be “compensable” through a successful defective drug claim. On the economic side of things, this can include immediately obvious expenses like medical bills and lost work income, as well as expected long-term harm like costs of future medical treatment, lost working capacity, and costs associated with permanent disability for things like home/vehicle modifications.
Non-economic damages, on the other hand, typically revolve around physical “pain and suffering” but can also include emotional anguish, psychological trauma, and lost enjoyment/quality of life. Once again, a dangerous drugs lawyer in Flagstaff can offer guidance about what damages may be recoverable in a specific situation and what course of action would be most effective for seeking civil restitution.
Contact a Flagstaff Dangerous Drugs Attorney for Help
Even if you have lots of evidence on your side, suing a pharmaceutical corporation over injuries you sustained from one of their products can be virtually impossible to accomplish alone. These companies dedicate millions of dollars to retaining defense attorneys and contesting lawsuits along these lines, and overcoming that opposition may require you to work with other people injured in the same way.
Put simply, representation from a Flagstaff dangerous drugs lawyer will almost certainly be essential to getting the compensation you need for the harm you did not deserve to experience.
Call Phillips Law Group today to speak with a member of our team and learn more about your legal options. We look forward to getting to know more about you and your situation and hope to provide you with much-needed guidance during a stressful time. Don’t hesitate to reach out — contact us today!
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