Philadelphia Drug Injury Lawyers

The news in recent years has been full of information about drug lawsuits due to dangerous pharmaceutical medications. Some of these drugs have been pulled off the market after class action product liability lawsuits were filed, while others remain readily available.

Pharmaceutical companies have proven they are willing to rush products to market before sufficient testing has been done to determine their dangerous side effects. But even drugs that have been considered relatively safe can have disastrous consequences.

When you take a prescribed medication, you rely on its ability to help treat your specific medical problem. Many drugs do just that, and have been safely used with reasonable side effects, if any, for years. Sadly, with an ever-growing market for prescription medications, new drugs – and even some that have long been in use – do much more harm than good.

HAVE YOU OR A LOVED ONE BEEN INJURED DUE TO A BAD DRUG INTERACTION? CONTACT ONE OF YOUR EXPERIENCED DRUG INJURY LAWYERS TO LEARN MORE. CONTACT US AT (215) 569-0900 TO SCHEDULE YOUR FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION TODAY.

Why Hire an Attorney for a Drug Lawsuit?

When you are injured by a defective or dangerous drug, you are up against one of the most powerful industries in the world. Pharmaceutical companies are large and retain teams of attorneys and aggressive insurance companies. They’re looking to protect their profits and their name. The methods they use to keep you from gaining compensation can be coercive, and even illegal.

The experienced attorneys at Wapner Newman have years of experience dealing with these companies, their attorneys, and their insurance providers. Our drug injury lawyers in Philadelphia are not afraid to hold negligent pharmaceutical companies accountable for their dangerous products, and will not back down until we have secured a settlement that addresses all of your damages.

Our verdicts and settlements speak for themselves. In both class action and private lawsuits, our Top-rated personal injury attorneys have been able to help victims of dangerous drugs obtain large settlements that help to cover the costs of medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, and physical pain and suffering.

Pharmaceutical companies can be ruthless when trying to disprove your claim. You deserve an aggressive, experienced product liability attorney in New Jersey on your side who will fight for your rights and help you obtain the compensation you deserve.

Can I File a Drug Lawsuit if a Drug Was Recalled?

Drug recalls happen frequently, either due to contamination of a batch or the discovery that something is wrong with the project. In some cases, the drug company will issue a recall directly. In other cases, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will order the recall.

Many manufacturers are responsible and will pull products if they receive reports of people being harmed from the medications. However, other companies put profits before safety and continue to sell products despite evidence that their drugs cause harm.

A recall does not prevent you from filing a drug injury lawsuit.

Talk to a Philadelphia Drug Injury Lawyer about Your Case

Drug injury lawsuits are a type of product liability lawsuit. For patients harmed by a defective drug, settlements and jury awards can help to ease the suffering and pay for medical expenses.

Filing a lawsuit allows you to receive needed financial compensation. The damages awarded in these lawsuits can be both for economic and non-economic damages. They are designed to ensure you are in the same financial position you would be in if the damages had never occurred.

In a civil drug injury lawsuit, you may recover the following damages:

  • Past and future medical bills, including hospital stays, treatments and doctor visits
  • Other medical expenses, such as for physical or occupational therapy or equipment
  • Rehabilitation care costs
  • Lost wages or salary from missed work
  • Pain and suffering endured as a result
  • Emotional distress
  • Punitive damages
  • Loss of consortium (a legal term for losses of a relationship with your spouse)
  • Wrongful death.

How much compensation could you receive? There’s no easy answer to that question. It can vary widely from case to case. The amounts are generally based on the severity of a victim’s injuries, the extent of the damages, their medical expenses, and future financial needs.

How a Drug Injury Lawsuit Works

If you believe you’ve been wronged by a defective medication, the first step is to contact a Philadelphia drug injury lawyer. The attorneys at Wapner Newman have years of experience managing medication error lawsuits.

When you hire a Philadelphia medication error lawyer, they will work with you to achieve the goal of just and full compensation for the harm caused by a defective or dangerous drug. The lawyer will assist in gathering evidence that will support your case.

After your lawyer has assembled the facts, they will work to write a complaint on your behalf. It’s important that these complaints are filed in a timely manner. That’s because there are statutes of limitations at play in many cases, which means that after a certain date you cannot file a complaint.

What Happens in a Medication Error Lawsuit?

When your case begins, the discovery process is the first phase. This stage is where your Philadelphia medication error lawyer works to obtain relevant information and documents from the drug company. This collection of information is crucial as they prepare for court hearings and write motions about your case.

The discovery phase is about determining what the company knew. It’s important to learn what a company knew about the products it was creating and selling. In many drug injury cases, your attorney needs to discover evidence that a company knew that a product it was selling was considered dangerous, but sold it anyway.

If the medication injury is related to a recall, it’s likely your case might become part of a larger complaint. In such cases, plaintiffs from different parts of the country work through multidistrict litigation. The process takes a bit longer to complete but seeks to get a bigger settlement or verdict for all involved by combining the evidence from multiple affected parties.

In addition, your attorney may be working with medical and scientific experts to reinforce the issue that the medication you were given was defective.

What Is Needed to Prove a Successful Bad Drug Lawsuit?

A bad drug lawsuit works much like most other product liability cases. The first issue is whether you can prove that there was a defect in the medication and that the defect made the drugs dangerous to use.

There are three ways you can prove a drug was defective:

  • A design defect in the medicine caused injuries or a side effect.
  • A manufacturing defect made the medication dangerous.
  • A marketing defect failed to alert users about severe side effects.

As is true in all personal injury cases, showing there was a defect is not enough. You also need to demonstrate that the medication was unreasonably dangerous to your health. Then you need to show that your injuries were the result of the dangerous drug.

That’s where the medical and scientific experts come in. They will need to testify on your behalf that the drug was defective. An experienced drug injury lawyer plays a key role here, working with these experts to get the results you deserve.

FAQs about Drug Injury Lawsuits

A drug injury can be devastating and raise many questions. Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about what to do if you’ve been injured after taking a medication.

If you are experiencing side effects, please contact your doctor immediately to be sure the issue is documented in your medical records. Continue to monitor your medical condition, even if you do not feel symptoms or have a bad reaction.

If you have been injured, collect our medical records and other documentation, track your expenses and contact a drug injury attorney.

Medical issues related to a drug injury can vary. In the past, plaintiffs have won successful drug lawsuits because medication has caused:

  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Diabetes
  • High blood pressure
  • Organ damage
  • Depression and suicide.
Recalled drugs, whether prescription or over-the-counter, are pulled from circulation immediately. Individuals are advised not to take the medication and to contact their physician for advice on an alternative treatment.
Drug cases can take years to work their way through the court system. However, each defective drug lawsuit is different. Some will settle before ever going to trial. Others will end with a jury trial.

If a settlement is offered, your attorney will discuss the details and can advise whether to accept it or not.

Contact a Philadelphia Drug Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured by a dangerous or defective drug in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, please contact the experienced attorneys at Wapner Newman today at (215) 569-0900 to schedule your free initial consultation. Our firm has offices in Philadelphia, West Conshohocken, Allentown, and Marlton.