When you’ve been injured by taking prescription drugs, filing a drug injury claim may be possible. It can be an excellent legal remedy that allows you to seek compensation for all the losses you’ve sustained.
But before you can get compensated, you may have to determine first who may be held liable for your injury. It’s an essential aspect of the case to ensure you sue the right party or parties and obtain the monetary compensation you deserve.
If you’re just starting a claim, below are the potential party or parties responsible for prescription drug injury:
1. Doctor
When doctors commit negligent acts in prescribing medications to their patients which cause them harm, a claim may be filed against them. They can be named as a defendant in a particular case when any of the following circumstances occur:
- They prescribe the wrong medication for a certain diagnosis.
- They hand out the wrong dosage of the drug for a particular patient.
- They fail to identify the harmful reactions or signs of abuse or addiction of a prescription drug.
- They didn’t warn the patient of the potential side effects of the medication; and
- They skipped out informing the patient of the appropriate drug use to minimize the potential health risks.
Thus, if you think your physician negligently committed one of the things mentioned above, you may have a solid medical malpractice case involving prescription drugs. In such a case, you may need the help of a dedicated lawyer from Snapka Law Firm and other reliable legal firms to handle the legal process.
With legal experts by your side, you can successfully prove the doctor’s liability by establishing the elements of negligence on their part. These can include:
- The medical expert should exercise a reasonable standard of care in prescribing medications to the patient.;
- The doctor failed to uphold that duty of care through their negligent acts;
- That failure to exercise the appropriate duty of care caused an injury; and
- The injury led to economic and non-economic damage or losses.
Once your lawyer can prove the abovementioned elements, you may win your case against the at-fault doctor in court.
2. Drug Manufacturer
Another potential at-fault party for a prescription drug injury is drug manufacturers. Since they’re in the business of producing new medications, they’ll more likely be held accountable for the drugs that may cause an injury to a specific individual. Yet when this happens, your drug injury claim is in the form of a product liability case.
Typically, product liability refers to an area of law where the manufacturer can be held accountable for releasing a defective product in the general market. Under this legal concept, the product should satisfy the consumers’ ordinary expectations. When the product comes with an unexpected defect or risk of danger, it doesn’t meet the said expectations.
Hence, to make the drug manufacturer liable for a prescription drug injury, the following circumstances should be considered:
- Manufacturing Defects: Whenever an error in the manufacturing process makes the drug contaminated or incorrectly produced, a drug injury claim may be filed against the medicine maker.
- Dangerous Side Effects: If the medicine was correctly manufactured but still had harmful side effects that caused an injury, the manufacturer may be sued in a drug injury claim.
- Failure To Warn: The drug maker’s liability may also be established when there’s solid evidence that it failed to provide warnings or instructions on the proper administration or use of a given medication. Some drug behemoths today even ended up paying up fines.
When any of these elements are present in your case, you may have a solid claim against the drug manufacturer. You can sue them to ensure you obtain the right amount of compensation you need to maximize your financial and physical recovery.
3. Pharmacies
Aside from the drug manufacturers, you can also include the pharmacy where you bought the prescription drug as a defendant in your injury claim. Since they’re part of the distribution chain of certain medications in the market, they may also be held accountable for whatever injury the drug has caused.
Specifically, a pharmacy may have a liability when they incorrectly bottle or pack a prescription drug or when the pharmacist-in-charge provides counseling about the use of a drug which later on causes harm to a consumer. As long as there’s sufficient evidence to prove the pharmacy’s negligence, it’s believed that they’re not immune to a product liability involving prescription drugs.
4. Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives
The pharmaceutical sales representative is another responsible party for injury claims arising from prescription drugs sold by erring drug companies. Since their job involves recommending the use of certain medications to doctors and other healthcare providers, they may also be taken to court when these drugs are defective in a way that they cause a significant injury to an individual.
So, if you’ve been injured by a defective drug recommended by a pharmaceutical sales representative, you can pursue compensation by filing a case against them.
Proving Liability Of The Defendants
Generally, a drug injury claim may involve many potential defendants. Depending on the extent of their participation and the negligent acts committed, their liability may vary. Henceforth, with the help of a lawyer, it’s essential to prove the defendants’ liability through the submission of valuable evidence. Some common evidence to collect can include:
- The prescription drug in question;
- Original packaging of the medication;
- Medical records showing the injury suffered;
- Photos or videos of the injury;
- Pharmacy receipts;
- Witness testimonies, if applicable; and
- Statements from expert witnesses.
Bottomline
Dealing with a prescription drug injury can be difficult, especially if it caused you to stop working and the like prior to the injury. Therefore, keep the information mentioned above in mind if you want to get the justice you’re rightfully entitled to. That way, you’ll know who are the possible at-fault party or parties whom you can sue to obtain the compensation you deserve.