Doctors Gone Wrong: Dangerous Drug Lawsuits

Every day, Americans suffer from the harmful side effects of defective drugs released by pharmaceutical companies that are allegedly approved as "safe" by the FDA. However, many of these drugs can (and often do) cause long-term health risks that inflict harm on consumers, including exorbitant medical fees, abnormal pain and suffering, and so forth. These types of situations can be filed as personal injury claims in a court of law, and can even be considered a form of medical malpractice. Filing a lawsuit against companies that sell these types of products is a convoluted and difficult process. That is why it is essential to find a personal injury attorney you can trust. Our attorneys will work hard to ensure justice and guarantee that you and your loved ones are compensated accordingly for any harm incurred from the side effects of dangerous drugs.

What Qualifies As a "Dangerous" Drug?

A "dangerous" drug may be loosely defined as a drug that incurs serious side effects while neglecting to provide sufficient warning of those possible side effects. It is important to keep in mind that FDA approval never guarantees that a drug is safe. When it defines a drug as "safe," it only means that the drug's benefits outweigh the risks for the population that the drug is designed to treat. In other words, a "safe" drug is not necessarily a harmless one, and a drug that is considered defective is one that turns out to provide more risks than benefits. In some cases, defective drugs can lead to significant health risks, disabilities, and hospitalization. Indeed, serious personal injuries, as well as medical expenses related to dangerous drugs, are on the rise, despite the action of federal agencies, pharmacists, doctors, and health authorities to continually issue labels and other preventative methods.

Why Do Companies Sell Dangerous Drugs?

Drug manufacturers have a responsibility to make sure drugs are safe, but all too often they fail to do so. This can be due to a variety of reasons, including:

• Negligence
• Ignorance
• A rush to get the product out on the market or meet a deadline
• The willful selection of profit over human lives or safety

A lot of this can additionally be traced to money. The pharmaceutical industry makes enormous amounts of profit on providing prescription drugs, with seemingly no concern for the harmful side effects these can cause on Americans. In fact, since 2000, the FDA has approved about 24 drugs a year, including ones that incur health risks and grave, long-lasting side effects.

When Can Companies Be Held Responsible?

Drug companies may be held responsible for these occurrences when certain factors can be shown, such as:

• They conducted dishonest clinical trials by neglecting to inform the FDA of negative results.
• They studied the side effects for only a short amount of time.
• They performed the studies using too small of a sample size.

How Does the FDA Respond to Dangerous Drugs?

The FDA responds to dangerous drug reaction in a multitude of ways, including reports, reviews, demands for more trials, meetings, letters to physicians, added warnings to labels, and requirements that patients participate in special programs for certain drugs. However, FDA action can take years—years that many patients do not have. Consumers who experience the harmful side effects of dangerous drugs can take action by filing lawsuits against the drug companies. These lawsuits are capable of covering medical costs, in addition to pain and suffering.

9 Currently Recognized Types of Dangerous Drugs

The list of dangerous drugs is constantly changing and will probably continue to grow. However, there are a variety of drugs used to treat certain conditions that have been commonly recognized as harmful, and which should be avoided at all costs. The side effects that have been associated with these drugs are quite serious and include liver damage, birth defects, suicidal behavior, bladder cancer, blood clots, Crohn's disease, strokes, heart attacks, uncontrollable bleeding, and heart failure.

• Avandia and Actos: These Type 2 diabetes drugs that were launched the same year and eventually linked to a variety of serious health risks, including heart attacks, heart failure, and bladder cancer.
• Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, and Lexapro: These antidepressant medications were shown to increase birth defects in pregnant women, as well as increase suicidal behavior.
• Yasmin and Yaz: Both are birth control pills that carry the risk of increasing blood clots, which can in turn increase the chances of stroke, heart attack, vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism.
• Accutane: An acne medication that caused numerous dangerous side effects, including inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, and gastrointestinal disorders.
• Pradaxa and Xarelto: These blood thinners were eventually linked to uncontrollable bleeding and increased risks of heart attacks.
• Fosamax: This osteoporosis treatment has led people to experience jaw death, joint and muscle pain, inflammation, and esophagus ulcers.
• GranuFlo and NaturaLyte: These medications were utilized in dialysis and patients suffered from an excess of acid in the blood, leading to organ damage, heart attacks, coma, and death.
• Propecia: A hair loss pill that was originally meant to treat baldness in men but that was later linked to erectile dysfunction, libido disorders, ejaculation disorders, and orgasm disorders, as well as increased risks of prostate cancer.

Need a Personal Injury Attorney?

If you think that you or a loved one is suffering from the effects of a dangerous drug, consider finding the proper legal services to represent you in court. Call 843.722.8070 now to get in touch with an attorney at Clore Law.