Only a handful of prescription medications are approved by the FDA each year. In that same amount of time, the agency typically recalls more than 1,000 drugs. Recalls are issued to address health and safety risks posed by pharmaceutical drugs that had previously been approved for use. These recalls can help to prevent future harm, but do not address injuries that consumers have already suffered.
Have you been injured or harmed because of a recalled medication? Did you experience harmful side effects that weren’t disclosed by the drug’s manufacturer? Has your injury forced you to seek expensive medical treatment and/or miss time at work? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions you may want to consider filing a personal injury lawsuit.
Pharmaceutical companies can be liable for injuries caused by their defective products. Call our San Diego drug recalls attorney to schedule your free case assessment and learn more.
Drug Recall Cases We Handle
Sometimes drugs aren’t properly tested before they’re sold and prescribed to patients. Testing helps to ensure that medications are safe and that any risks are properly identified. Those risks must then be passed along to consumers so that you can make informed decisions about which medications you take. When companies rush products to market they put consumers’ lives at risk.
At Injury Trial Lawyers, our attorneys can help you fight for the compensation you deserve if you have been injured because of a recalled drug. We are prepared to handle cases involving any dangerous prescription drugs, including:
- Abilify
- Accutane
- Actemra
- Celebrex
- Cymbalta
- GranuFlo
- Januvia
- Lamictal
- Lyrica
- Pradaxa
- Risperdal
- Xarelto
- Yaz
- Zyprexa, and more.
Contact our San Diego drug recall attorneys today to schedule a free consultation. We’ll review your case and help you understand your rights.
Drug Recalls in San Diego
The FDA is presented with thousands of drug approval applications each year. Only a small fraction of these will get the stamp of approval. However, the sheer volume of requests makes the FDA’s job pretty hard. It’s difficult for the agency to comb through each request with the care and attention it deserves. Pharmaceutical companies are trusted to put their drugs through rigorous clinical testing procedures. Unfortunately, these companies tend to be more interested in profits than patient health. As a result, companies cut corners and take shortcuts that speed up the testing process. They know the FDA is bogged down and unlikely to give the request the thorough assessment it deserves. This is how some dangerous drugs get into consumers’ hands.
Once drugs are approved for use by the FDA they are still monitored. When the FDA believes that a drug may pose a threat to a consumer’s health or safety, it has the authority to issue a recall. A drug recall may be issued if:
- The drug isn’t effective
- Patients report new and/or undisclosed side effects
- Drug packaging is damaged or mislabeled
- There are contamination concerns
- The drug is contraindicated with other drugs
- There are questions about the drug’s purity, potency, or quality, or
- The agency receives multiple reports of dangers relating to a single drug.
Recalls are intended to notify consumers about potential risks and prevent any additional harm. Once a drug is recalled any potential risks or hazards are investigated. Pharmaceutical companies also can issue voluntary recalls if they identify any potential health risks.
Drug Recalls and Liability
Drug recalls are typically issued after consumers are already injured or harmed. There are two things you need to know about how drug recalls may affect a personal injury lawsuit.
First, drug recalls do not shield pharmaceutical companies from liability for harm caused by their products. You do have the right to file a lawsuit for damages if you were injured because of the recalled drug. Most drug recall lawsuits will argue that:
- The drug was inherently dangerous because of its design
- The drug was dangerous or defective because of the way it was manufactured, or
- You were injured because the company failed to provide adequate warnings about potential risks.
Second, a drug recall doesn’t automatically mean that a pharmaceutical company is at fault or negligent. However, the fact that a drug was recalled may help establish essential elements of your case.
Health Threats Posed By Dangerous Drugs
We rely on prescription medications to keep us healthy and safe. When drugs are rushed through the FDA approval process, the risk of unknown side effects or potential for dangerous interactions with other substances is unknown. This puts patients in serious jeopardy. Thousands of prescription medications are recalled every year, for a variety of reasons.
Health risks that may be associated with a recalled drug include:
- Neurological problems
- Psychological problems
- Allergic reactions
- Infection
- Birth defects
- Organ failure (i.e. kidney, liver, heart)
- Stroke
- Overdose
- Coma
- Paralysis, or
- Death.
Have you been injured because of a recalled dangerous drug? Do you want help getting compensation for medical bills, lost wages, and emotional distress? Contact Injury Trial Lawyers to schedule a free consultation today.
Why You Should File a Drug Recall Injury Lawsuit
When someone else causes you to suffer an injury you have the right to file a personal injury lawsuit. Here’s why you should consider filing a San Diego drug recall injury lawsuit:
You Deserve Compensation
Injuries and complications brought on by a dangerous drug can be devastating. Your injuries can require extensive medical care and may even cause you to suffer a lifelong disability. Medical costs can be expensive. Those costs can become overwhelming if you’re forced to miss work or find a new profession. The company responsible for designing, manufacturing, and/or selling that drug can be liable for your costs and expenses. Filing a lawsuit can allow you to get the money you need as you recover from your unexpected injury.
You Can Hold Companies Accountable
Prescription drugs are widely used. You’re probably not the only patient who has been prescribed and has used the dangerous drug. Filing a lawsuit can bring attention to a public health issue. This will help you hold the pharmaceutical company accountable. Taking this legal action can help to inform and protect others who may also be affected by the recalled drug.
Drug Recall Class Action Lawsuits
Drug recall injury lawsuits are different from other personal injury cases. Rather than filing a lawsuit against another individual, you’ll be naming a large and successful pharmaceutical company as a defendant. These companies have endless resources, fierce legal teams, and strategies to avoid liability if they are ever sued. It can be difficult to match a pharmaceutical company’s power as an individual victim.
Things can change when victims band together. Class action lawsuits allow victims with similar injuries to merge their cases if they’ve been harmed by the same product.
Instead of fighting a pharmaceutical company on your own, you get to stand with other victims who have also been injured by the same drug. Class actions allow victims to pool resources and draw attention to a potential public health issue. If a class-action lawsuit is successful, each victim receives a percentage of the financial award.
You don’t have to join a class-action lawsuit if one exists. You do reserve the right to pursue compensation from the pharmaceutical company on your own. If you choose to fight for yourself, it’s important to hire an attorney who can stand toe-to-toe with the pharmaceutical company.
At Injury Trial Lawyers, APC, we have developed a deep pool of resources and important relationships with the most respected medical and scientific professionals in San Diego. We are prepared to fight pharmaceutical companies for the money you deserve. Call us today to speak with our legal team about your drug recall case.
San Diego Drug Recalls Attorney
Drugs are recalled to protect the public from potentially harmful health and/or safety issues. If you’ve already used a drug that has been subject to a recall, this won’t be of much help to you. The damage is already done.
Fortunately, pharmaceutical companies can be held financially responsible for harm caused by their products. You have the right to demand compensation and our attorneys can help. Contact San Diego drug recalls attorney Richard Morse to schedule a free consultation. We will review your case, help you identify your legal options, and answer any questions you have.