Indianapolis Mass Tort Drug Litigation Lawyer
Pharmaceutical companies develop, manufacture, and market hundreds of new drugs to consumers each year. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for regulation, testing, and approval of each before it reaches the consumer. Every year, over 200,000 people die from using these drugs. According to recent estimates, more than 50% of all the drugs marketed to the American consumer have negative effects, in spite of testing and FDA regulation.
The potential for harmful drugs to enter the market is well-known with several such products coming to national attention in recent years. Of all these recent examples of harmful drugs, most were withdrawn from sale within 12 months of release. A few drugs were still marketed to the public by drug companies even after evidence of serious side effects or death had been noted. These are also well-documented. Drug manufacturers are legally strictly liable for injuries caused by the products they sell. This may potentially happen in several ways.
- The product may be defective as the result of an error in the manufacturing process.
- Consumers may not be informed of the possible negative side effects of using the product.
- The product may be dangerous due to a design flaw.
The manufacturer is liable in all of these cases, and can be sued for damages, even if they were unaware of the danger. The level or care in development, testing, production, or labeling is not relevant.
When a dangerous drug is extremely popular and widely-sued, litigation takes the form of class action suits or "mass torts." These address many individual cases and injuries at one time, and greatly magnify the influence and power that any single case might have. Examples of drugs named in class-action suites include Baycol, Phen-fen, Rezulin, Propulsid, and PPA.
Also worth mention regarding drug litigation are the dietary supplements becoming increasingly popular. These are not regulated in the same way as pharmaceuticals; the FDA requires that manufacturers assure that such supplements are safe before selling them, but there are no testing or approval requirements.
If you or a loved one is in need of legal assistance, call C. Dennis Wegner & Associates at (317) 576-0066 or toll free (800) 266-LAWS or submit an online questionnaire. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to handle your case, we will work on a contingency fee basis, which means we get paid for our services only if there is a monetary recovery of funds. In many cases, a lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, known as a statute of limitations. Please call right away to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.
