Connecticut Defective Drugs Lawyer

Pharmaceuticals are meant to improve our quality of life by treating or controlling illness and prolonging our lives. They are marketed as modern miracles in a bottle and our physicians prescribe them as they see fit. But many of these medicines have hidden hazards that can severely injure or kill those who trust them to better their health. The Connecticut defective drug lawyers at Berkowitz and Hanna LLC help those who have been harmed by pharmaceuticals and their families. Contact a skilled member of our legal team to learn more.

Checks and Balances for Drug Manufacturers

If a defective drug is put on the market, it could potentially impact millions of people. Drug manufacturers have a responsibility to protect American consumers from products when the risks far outweigh the potential benefits of the drug. Before a drug is sold, it is supposed to be properly tested and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Additionally, If there are dangerous hazards associated with a drug, the manufacturers should prevent it from being sold – or should at least disclose those hazards to patients, pharmacists, and physicians. Most of us assume if a drug is approved by the FDA it is safe, but that is not always the case. Serious injuries caused by dangerous pharmaceuticals can include heart attack, stroke, blood clots, pulmonary embolism and death.

The development of drugs from basic research to manufacture and sale could require an investment of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Only a fraction of the drugs that pharmaceutical companies develop make it to the marketplace, so given the massive costs of development there is a lot of pressure to sell as many FDA-approved drugs as possible, in order to recoup costs and turn a profit. This pressure could result in a company turning a blind eye or minimizing potential side effects to market the drug to the widest audience possible, including those with conditions whose use of the drug has not been approved by the FDA.

Defective Drug Lawsuits

Although most drugs are safe for their intended uses, some dangerous drugs make it to market and cause millions of people harm before being recalled. If you have taken a medication and experienced a serious side effect, you may qualify for compensation from the manufacturer. Depending on the circumstances of the drug and how it was used, there could be a number of legal arguments indicating that someone injured by using a drug should obtain compensation with the help of a Connecticut defective drugs attorney. Some of those legal claims include:

  • Defective manufacture – The drug at issue was improperly manufactured or was tainted prior to the patient using it. There may have been mistakes in the manufacturing process or a problem during packaging or shipping. Therefore, although the drug is safe “on paper” there was a mistake made at some point – between the factory and when the patient received the drug – that made it dangerous.
  • Dangerous side effects – Though properly manufactured, the drug was inherently dangerous because, even though it was used as directed, a serious side effect arose that caused an injury. These drugs may have been sold for a long time before the risk of an injury was discovered. In some cases, the plaintiff may claim the manufacturer was aware of the danger but deliberately concealed it. If this is proven, punitive damages (meant to punish the defendant for bad deeds) may be awarded.
  • Improperly marketed or insufficient warnings – The marketing of a drug includes the warnings, instructions, advertising, and recommendations concerning the use of that drug. These cases involve injuries caused by the patient not being aware of the dangers of a drug due to inadequate or inaccurate warnings of potential side effects. They also include cases where the defendant’s failure to provide proper instructions on the safe and appropriate use of the drug led to a person’s injury.

Contact our proven and winning defective drug lawyers today to discuss your case.

Examples of Defective Drugs

People suffer severe injuries as a result of dangerous medications that intended to treat a wide variety of diseases and conditions. In more recent years, some of the drugs that have been investigated and linked to potential health risks include Avandia®, Fleet Phospho-soda®, Actos®, GranuFlo®, Paxil®, Nexium®, Prilosec®, Yaz® birth control, Accutane®, Fosamax® and Heparin®. The list of potentially hazardous drugs grows every day.

Contact a Connecticut Defective Drugs Attorney Today

If you believe that you or a family member have suffered a serious injury by a medication that was used as intended and according to instructions, contact our defective drug lawyers for a free evaluation of your case.

Your Connecticut defective drug lawyers will aggressively fight to protect your legal rights and the rights of your family members, and to pursue fair compensation for injuries suffered due to dangerous drugs. If you or a loved one has experienced harm as a result of a prescription or nonprescription medication, contact our firm to discuss your situation, the applicable laws, and your best legal options moving forward. To speak with an attorney about a potential defective drug claim, contact our Connecticut defective drug attorneys today.