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Many people believe that if their doctor prescribes a drug, the medication is safe, but that is not always the case. Pharmaceuticals often reach the market and are later found to produce devastating, even fatal, side effects.
If your health suffered because you faced severe side effects after taking a medication, you and a skilled injury attorney could bring a lawsuit seeking monetary damages against the drug’s manufacturer. Contact a Hermiston dangerous drugs lawyer for help exploring your legal options.
Although the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) imposes a lengthy approval process on drug manufacturers, FDA approval does not guarantee a drug is safe. Unfortunately, the FDA’s process leaves plenty of room for unsafe medications to reach the market.
If there are few effective treatments for a particular condition, a drug might get approval even if it causes severe side effects in some people. In other cases, manufacturers might manipulate or hide data to make a drug appear safer than it actually is. Sometimes a drug’s harmful impact might take months or years to manifest, and the clinical studies the FDA reviews do not reflect the drug’s effects over time.
When drugs cause harm to patients, the manufacturers could be liable regardless of FDA approval. Additionally, if the manufacturer lied, withheld information, or manipulated data to get FDA approval, their liability to individuals who suffered injuries because of their deception increases significantly. An attorney in Hermiston could review the documents that led to a dangerous medication’s approval to determine whether the drug company’s intentional deception was a factor in bringing the medication to market.
In many cases, proving a manufacturer is strictly liable for the harm their product caused is the most effective way to proceed. Under Oregon Revised Statute §30.900, an injured plaintiff could hold a manufacturer strictly liable if they could prove a product is defective in its:
A plaintiff could seek to hold the manufacturer responsible under both strict liability and negligence theories. A seasoned lawyer familiar with filing harmful medication claims in Hermiston could advise an injured party of the best course to take in their particular case.
The side effects of dangerous drugs could be permanent, life-threatening, and even fatal. Over recent years, some widely-prescribed drugs have triggered heart attacks and strokes, suicidal ideation, uncontrolled internal bleeding, congenital abnormalities, and many other serious health conditions. The patients who took these defective drugs and suffered harm are entitled to compensation for their losses.
When a plaintiff proves a manufacturer is negligent or strictly liable for producing a defective medication, the manufacturer must pay damages. A plaintiff’s damages could include their medical costs to date and lost income, including diminished future earning potential, and treatment for any psychological effects of the injury. The manufacturer could also be responsible for paying to compensate for an injured party’s pain, scarring or disfigurement, disability, shortened life expectancy, and other non-economic losses.
If a defective medication injured you, the thought of suing a big drug company might make you feel like David taking on Goliath. Although pharmaceutical companies have vast resources to defend their products, holding them accountable is possible and necessary.
A Hermiston dangerous drugs lawyer has the experience and skills to combat the drug company’s corporate defenders. Act now to bring a zealous advocate onto your team.
