Delivering Justice: Defective Medical Device Lawyers
GoldenbergLaw, PLLC is a nationwide personal injury law firm located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our experienced defective medical device lawyers have handled injuries and wrongful death caused by defective pacemakers and defibrillators, defective stents, and infections occurring after undergoing kidney dialysis.
GoldenbergLaw, PLLC is located in the same city as the cardiac units of the three largest manufacturers of pacemakers and defibrillators. This makes Minnesota one of your jurisdiction choices for a lawsuit involving defective and recalled pacemakers and defibrillators manufactured by one of these companies.
Drugs and Medical Devices – An Overview
The costs of defective drugs and medical devices are great. Having defective drugs and medical devices on the market can lead to significant health risks in consumers. Risks can cause serious injury, disabilities and hospitalization. In some cases, injuries lead to more intensive surgeries than were originally necessary to correct the damage caused by the defect. Some harms caused by defective prescription drugs and medical devices also cause death. Fatal injuries caused by defects have been on the rise in the past decade. This increase has lead to drugs being pulled off the market, class action lawsuits, safety concerns and liability issues; we want to know who to blame.
If you believe you may have a claim against a drug manufacturer, you should not hesitate to seek legal advice from a lawyer at our firm with experience in this area.
Defective Drugs
When a consumer receives a prescription for medication from his or her physician he or she would likely believe that drug is safe. However, safe does not necessarily mean harmless. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “safe” means that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks for the population the drug is intended to treat and for its intended use. A defective drug is one whose potential risks offset its anticipated benefits. Likewise, a defective drug is one whose potential risks outweigh its possible benefits to the consumer.
Defective Medical Devices
Medical devices are used to ease pain, help with disabilities and save lives. However, when these devices are flawed they may cause serious injury and death. Some medical device defects may include faulty design or insufficient manufacturing quality and are considered instruments used for treatment, diagnosis or prevention of disease or injury. The FDA categories of devices are complex and widely varied and many of the adverse effects of medical devices are preventable.
Legal Duty of Manufacturer
We all rely on medications and medical products to help gain a higher quality of life or better health. However, not all drugs or medical products are helpful. Some may have been defectively manufactured or may be unsafe. These medical products may pose dangerous risks or injury. Drug and medical device manufacturers have a legal duty to make a safe product, test their products, meet FDA standards and approvals for their products (prior to entering the market) and to issue the appropriate warnings for any risks associated with their products. Likewise, physicians and pharmacists have a duty to relay manufacturers’ warnings to their patients or consumers when it is necessary and appropriate to avoid consumer injuries.
What Can You Do?
Manufacturers, physicians and pharmacists may be held liable for certain drug and medical device defects, but ultimately you are responsible for your own health. Keep yourself aware and knowledgeable of your medical treatment. You are accountable for taking your prescription correctly, taking the right dosage and not abusing your medications.
Drugs and Medical Devices Resource Links
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)The FDA is the main federal agency charged with drug and medical device safety. The FDA’s website includes news, product reports and approvals, safety alerts and recalls.
MedWatchThis website contains the FDA safety information and adverse event reporting program used by consumers to report defective drugs or medical devices or to check the status of medical products.
Breast Implants on TrialFrom PBS’s Frontline, this website includes news, documents, studies and other information related to breast implant defects and litigation.
Institute for Safe Medication PracticesThe Institute for Safe Medication Practices is a nonprofit organization devoted to medication safety and serving health care providers and consumers.
If you have any questions, or if you would like to speak with an attorney regarding your defective medical device injury, please do not hesitate to call our downtown Minneapolis office toll-free at (800) 504-0281 . If you prefer, you may fill out the form on the Contact Us page of this web site, and a representative from our office will be in touch with you shortly. We look forward to hearing from you!
Contact the Minnesota Defective Medical Device Attorneys at GoldenbergLaw, PLLC for a free initial consultation.