Defective Drug Cases: Liability, Damages, and Legal Rights

Proving Defective Drug Cases 

Liability For Injury and Death

Under product liability law, drug manufacturers can be held strictly liable for injuries or deaths caused by their products, regardless of the degree of care they took to prevent such harm. 

Stated another way, a seller of a pharmaceutical product is liable without being at fault for the damages they cause if their product is sold in a defective condition, which is defined by the law as being “unreasonably dangerous” to the consumer for the intended use.

The plaintiff may potentially sue anyone in the chain of commerce, including the manufacturer, supplier, retail pharmacists, and even the physicians that prescribed the drug.

Unreasonably Dangerous For Intended Use

As stated, the most critical issue to be legally determined is whether the product is “unreasonably dangerous” for its intended use. However, the law also provides that a pharmaceutical product would not be held liable under strict liability if the drug is deemed unavoidably unsafe.

Benefit Outweighs Risks

While the term “unavoidably safe” is a strange and confusing way to classify a drug with the potential to harm, it nevertheless means that the benefit of the drug outweighs its risk of injury. So long as the labeled descriptions of the drug’s adverse effects and the potential dangers are made known to the consumer. This is otherwise known as the duty to warn.

Knowledge of The Drug’s Dangers When Released 

This legal determination of whether a product is so unreasonably dangerous as to be deemed “defective,” requiring the imposition of strict liability, has been held by the courts to be based on the state of scientific knowledge and technology at the time the product was sold and not at the time the product liability case comes to trial.

Supplier Network Held Liable

Chain of Commerce

Under product liability law, a drug manufacturer and its entire distribution network can be held strictly liable for your damages. The distribution network has been construed broadly as wholesale resellers, retail drugstores, and outlets.

Types of Damage Recovered

Economic and General Damages

If you or your loved one suffered severe injuries from a drug product, you would have the right to seek damages and compensation for your past and future medical expenses, loss of income, diminished earning capacity, and pain and suffering.

In addition, if the plaintiff can prove that the drug maker had actual knowledge of the drug’s dangers and intentionally hid them from the FDA  and the general public, the plaintiff may be able to pursue punitive damages against the drug maker. 

Plaintiff Burden of proof

The plaintiff carries the burden of proving the drug was defective. This means that the plaintiff must prove its case by a preponderance of the evidence, representing at least fifty-one percent.

An individual plaintiff can file these types of cases through their attorney or the legal process known as a class action. In either case, you should ensure your injury lawyer has extensive experience in this highly complex area of the law.

The Need For Stricter Market Controls

A defective pharmaceutical drug is defined as one whose potential risks outweigh its intended benefits. Consumers demand better screening methods and stricter drug regulation and approval process controls.

Side Effects Won’t Always Stop FDA Approval

The mere fact that a drug possesses serious dangers does not always mean it will be taken off the market. Instead, drug companies are likely only to add a warning to their labeling, allowing the drug to continue to be sold to unsuspecting patients.

Drug Maker Loyalty To Corporate Shareholders

Drug manufacturers are corporations, so their duty of loyalty is owed first and foremost to their shareholders. Like most other large corporations, drug companies are primarily driven by money and profit per share. Unfortunately, drug companies have been caught manipulating test information and often downplaying their drugs’ possible adverse side effects.

FDA Can Be Careless In Their Drug Approval Process 

Compounding the problem is that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) often fails to conduct sufficient research on drug products or devotes less time to running independent drug trials on the products. This can lead to the approval of dangerous and defective drugs. 

The one countermeasure to this dilemma is the lawyers representing victims in product liability actions against drug companies. They demand both compensation and sometimes punitive damages for their injured clients.

Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have questions or require additional information about your legal rights and obligations, consult a verified Personal Injury Lawyer as soon as possible.