Many New Mexico residents rely on medical devices to treat disabilities and chronic health conditions. Patients trust companies that manufacture and market medical devices to test them and ensure their safety. Unfortunately, defective medical devices cause hundreds of thousands of injuries annually.
When medical devices are defective, innocent patients may require additional medical procedures, suffer unexpected pain, and sustain severe, fatal injuries. If a defective medical device has injured you or your loved one, you may be entitled to compensation through a medical malpractice lawsuit or product liability claim. The attorneys at Hunt Law Firm will work with you to level the playing field and skillfully pursue the full compensation you need and deserve.
Common Types of Defective Medical Expenses
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves thousands of new medical devices yearly. Unfortunately, not all of the products undergo rigorous testing. Many doctors and patients are unaware of the risks of dangerous side effects caused by defects. Medical doctors include any instrument or equipment used in a patient’s medical treatment.
Medical devices range from simple tools such as stethoscopes to more complex devices such as joint replacement devices and defibrillators. Many types of medical devices have caused injuries. Some of the most common types of defective medical devices include the following:
- Hip implants
- IVC blood clot filters
- Drug-coated stents
- Pacemakers
- Defibrillators
- Insulin pumps
- Transvaginal mesh implants
- Knee and hip implants
- Surgical robots
- Contraceptive and other birth control devices
- Infusion ports
- Defective morcellators used in hysterectomies
- Defective heart stents
Injuries Caused By Recalled Medical Devices
The FDA is responsible for regulating medical devices. The purpose of FDA regulations is to protect the public from potentially dangerous medical devices. Multiple victims of defective products can become injured before the FDA decides to recall the device and notify the public. By the time the medical device or pharmaceutical drugs are recalled, you may have already suffered serious injuries.
Whether or not the device has been recalled, you may be able to pursue compensation through a personal injury lawsuit. When a product has been recalled, evidence in documentation surrounding the recall can be useful in proving liability.
Defective Drug Manufacturing
When a pharmaceutical manufacturer improperly fabricates or damages a device during manufacturing, patients can become seriously injured. The damage caused by defective products could have happened between the manufacturing process and the location at which you or your doctor purchased the device.
Defectively Designed Medical Devices
Even when a pharmaceutical device has been safely manufactured, it can be defective because it was poorly designed. In these cases, the design process poses an unreasonable danger of the patient being injured. For example, according to the product’s specifications, a hip implant device may have been manufactured correctly.
However, when an implant uses certain types of metal, the implant can become toxic, and patients can develop serious medical conditions. Defectively designed devices are inherently dangerous to patients because of their defective design.
Failure to Warn of Dangerous Side Effects
Medical device manufacturers have a legal obligation to warn customers, including patients, about potentially dangerous death effects. A medical device may be reasonably safe and properly manufactured. However, patients can still become injured if they are not provided adequate or accurate warnings about the potential dangers associated with using the medical device. Doctors who use medical devices and their patients should be given instructions about the proper use of the device and potential harmful side effects.
Dangerous Prescription Medications
Pharmaceutical companies benefit from making enormous financial gains yearly, some earning billions of dollars in revenue. These companies’ marketing practices don’t always comply with FDA regulations. They may include settlements from litigation into their bottom line.
Patients are the ones who suffer when drug manufacturers fail to disclose all of the potential side effects, provide insufficient instruction on how to use the medication, or illegally bribe physicians to prescribe the medication for untested uses. Patients can also become injured when the medication has been defectively manufactured. Other examples of dangerous prescription medications include the following:
- Lack of sterility
- Product defects
- Bacterial contamination
- Manufacturing defects
- The pharmaceutical contains particulates
- Incorrect labeling or ingredient labels
- Failure to disclose potential side effects
The Benefits of Hiring a Skilled Attorney
Deciding whether to pursue a lawsuit after being injured by a medical device can be difficult. You may be undergoing additional medical procedures because of the damage caused by the defective medical device.
Discussing your case with an attorney can help you understand whether you have a valid legal claim and the potential value of your claim. The attorneys at Hunt Law Firm work with experts to carefully value all of the current and future damages our clients incur because of defective medical devices.
Available Damages in Defective Medical Device Lawsuits
Defective medical devices can cause long-term, negative effects on a person’s health. The injuries caused by defective devices may even cause catastrophic injuries, causing permanent disability or death.
Plaintiffs in defective medical devices can pursue multiple types of damages: compensatory, non-compensatory, and punitive. Compensatory damages are those that can be easily quantifiable, such as the patient’s past and future medical expenses, lost wages, and loss of future earning capacity.
Non-economic damages are more difficult to quantify and include compensation for disfigurement, loss of consortium, and pain and suffering. When a plaintiff can prove that the manufacturer or retailer of the device knew about the danger posed by the device and failed to take the product off of the market, he or she could recover additional punitive damages.
Discuss Your Case with an Experienced Product Liability Attorney
Victims can recover compensation for the damages incurred due to the defective medical device or prescription. If you believe you’ve suffered an injury because of a defective medical device, it’s important to discuss your case with an attorney as soon as possible. You only have a limited amount of time to file a claim for compensation. Your attorney will need as much time as possible to gather evidence as medical device cases are complex. Contact the product liability attorneys at Hunt Law Firm to schedule a complimentary case evaluation.