If you have suffered a significant side effect or health impact after taking medication, contact a DeLand dangerous drugs lawyer at The Florida Firm. Our legal colleagues, as well as other prominent people in the community, refer their loved ones to our personal injury attorneys because they recognize our compassion, professionalism, and successful track record.
Drugs Can Cause Serious Harm
You may think that a drug is safe because it is approved for sale in this country, but that is a misunderstanding. A drug may receive approval for use even if it has the potential to cause you serious side effects, as long as there is evidence that its effectiveness at treating a given condition outweighs the potential harm. If you take an approved drug as prescribed, you can still suffer severe side effects and even permanent damage to your health.
Sometimes, a product becomes available on the market before its long-term impact is fully understood by manufacturers. If the medication proves to be unacceptably dangerous, the manufacturer may eventually withdraw it from the market. Some examples of severe side effects and health impacts associated with dangerous drugs include:
- Brain fog and chronic fatigue
- Hair loss
- Bleeding, ulcers, and reduced blood-clotting
- High blood pressure and stroke
- Heart, liver, or kidney damage
- Miscarriage and congenital conditions in children
- Vision or hearing loss
- Suicidal ideation
- Dementia
- Various forms of cancer
Scores of drugs that are potentially harmful remain on the market. If you suffered a significant side effect, received a cancer diagnosis, or developed another condition related to your use of a medication, contact The Florida Firm. Our attorneys in DeLand have had great success in compelling drug companies to compensate people, like you, who suffered harm from dangerous medications.
How Do You Prove a Drug Company Is Liable?
To get compensation for the harm a medication caused you, you need to prove that the drug company was strictly liable or negligent. In either case, you must demonstrate that you suffered actual harm. For example, if you have a cancer diagnosis relating to a drug you took, you can seek compensation from the manufacturer. However, you cannot claim compensation for being more likely to develop cancer in the future because of your drug exposure.
Strict Liability
The manufacturer is legally liable for your injuries if you can show that the drug is defective. You must provide proof that the drug is unreasonably dangerous in its design, or that a manufacturing error occurred, or that its label did not provide an adequate warning about the potential side effects.
Negligence
You may also hold a drug manufacturer responsible by proving that their negligence led to your injury. Our DeLand attorneys could scrutinize the clinical tests the drug’s manufacturer performed, the production records, and other evidence to determine whether the drug company used reasonable care to avoid distributing a dangerous product. If not, and if its failure directly caused you harm, the manufacturer is liable due to negligence.
Understanding the Legal Time Limits
Cases of injury due to harmful medications can be challenging because your symptoms may not appear immediately. In many cases, you do not realize the drug harmed you until months or even years later. The time limits for legal action address these realities, but can be confusing, so it is critical to consult a dangerous drugs attorney in DeLand as soon as you realize a medication harmed you.
If you are claiming the manufacturer sold a defective product, you must file a lawsuit within four years of the last date you took the medication. If you are claiming the manufacturer was negligent, you have only two years. If your symptoms were not apparent immediately or if you did not realize the connection between them and the drug you took, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until you make the discovery.
An important rule in Florida Statutes § 95.031(2)(b) states that you must bring a lawsuit within 12 years of the product’s sale, regardless of the date you discovered it caused you harm.
Contact a DeLand Attorney Today To Discuss Compensation for Harmful Drug Injuries
When a medication causes you harm, you may have a legal claim against the pharmaceutical company that manufactured and distributed it. Consult a DeLand dangerous drugs lawyer at Colling Gilbert Wright to find out whether you have the right to sue.
Our attorneys have a proven record in complex litigation, including many multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements. We do not charge fees or expenses unless we obtain money for you, so you risk nothing. Call us today!