Every day, millions of Americans take over-the-counter and prescription medications to help alleviate all kinds of acute and chronic health problems, and for the most part, these medical products work more or less as advertised with minimal unwanted side effects. Sometimes, though, consumer drugs end up doing more harm than good—and even worse, the companies that made and sold those drugs do not always properly warn consumers about the harm their products may cause.
If you have sustained serious injury or illness because of an undisclosed side effect or contraindication in a medication you took, you may have grounds for legal action which a seasoned personal injury attorney can help you make the most of. If you want the best possible chances of getting the best possible case result, though, you should specifically seek the assistance of a Piscataway dangerous drugs lawyer from Fredson Statmore Bitterman, LLC.
When Are Drug Companies Liable for Drug-Related Injuries?
One crucial aspect of defective drug litigation is that drug manufacturers are not automatically accountable for every adverse effect of their products. In fact, federal law offers significant protection from civil liability to companies that conduct sufficient testing to identify major side effects and/or interactions with other drugs, and then appropriately inform doctors and consumers about these risks.
A drug company that fails to provide advance warning about a dangerous side effect or contraindication—whether it happens because of insufficient research or because the company is intentionally hiding problems with their product in order to make money—may hold civil liability for ensuing injuries and losses like:
- All costs of medical treatment made necessary by the plaintiff’s injury/illness
- Lost work income, benefits, and/or working ability
- Disability-related costs for things like assistive equipment and home/vehicle modifications
- Physical pain and discomfort
- Emotional and psychological distress
- Lost overall enjoyment of life
A Piscataway dangerous drugs attorney can provide vital assistance both with identifying and assigning a fair financial value to these sorts of “compensable damages,” in addition to demanding fair restitution for them on an injured or sick person’s behalf.
Taking Action Through “Mass Tort” Litigation
Unfortunately, even someone with extremely strong grounds to file suit over a drug-related injury may have substantial difficulty beating a multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical corporation in any kind of court battle. For this reason, among many others, the most dangerous drug lawsuits in New Jersey and throughout the United States take the form of “mass tort” claims, which allow multiple people injured by the same “defendant” in roughly the same way to combine legal and financial resources to pursue their individual claims as a group.
Some cases of this nature specifically take the form of “class action lawsuits,” which are a subtype of mass tort litigation that allows multiple “class members” to combine their individual claims into one collective claim and demand a single lump-sum settlement to be split equally among them all. Once again, a defective drugs lawyer in Piscataway can explain these types of cases in more detail and offer guidance about possibly starting or joining one during a free and confidential consultation.
Get in Touch With a Piscataway Dangerous Drugs Attorney Today
Getting hurt or ill unexpectedly can be disruptive to your daily life no matter what specifically causes it. Injuries and illnesses caused by dangerous medications, though, can be both uniquely frustrating and uniquely difficult to recover from in physical and financial terms—especially if you try to do it alone.
Support from a Piscataway dangerous drugs lawyer could be all but essential to ensuring the company which sold you the product that harmed you is held accountable for their actions. Call Fredson Statmore Bitterman, LLC today to discuss your legal options.
