Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are harmed due to dangerous and defective drugs. Even the drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and marketed as “safe,” “health-beneficial” or “harmless” can cause injuries or even death to unsuspecting patients.
“When dangerous or defective medications cause your injury or result in the death of your loved one, you may have a right to sue the drug manufacturer and other parties,” says our Pittsburgh dangerous drugs attorney at Shenderovich, Shenderovich & Fishman.
If you think about it, unsafe pharmaceuticals and defective medical devices are all around us, and there’s no telling which drug is dangerous or defective until it’s too late. But it’s never too late to seek compensation for your injuries and damages caused by dangerous medications.
‘DO I NEED A PITTSBURGH DANGEROUS & DEFECTIVE DRUGS ATTORNEY?’
If you have been harmed by a dangerous or defective drug in Pittsburgh or elsewhere in Pennsylvania, you may be wondering whether or not you need a Pittsburgh defective drugs attorney.
The short answer to your question is, “Yes, you do.” After all, if you have been harmed by an unsafe prescription or over-the-counter drug, you may be able to file a product liability lawsuit against the drug manufacturing company and other parties in the chain of distribution.
And that’s where it gets complicated because pharmaceutical companies are usually represented by the best product liability lawyers in Pittsburgh. Suing a drug company in Pittsburgh may feel like running a marathon with a dumbbell attached to your leg.
That’s because drug companies and their defense lawyers dispute claims against them in a very skillful manner. But when you are represented by a Pittsburgh dangerous & defective drugs attorney, a true professional who understands how to handle this type of claims, you can sit back and watch your lawyer tear those negligent and careless drug companies into tiny pieces.
HOW DO DANGEROUS AND DEFECTIVE DRUGS ENTER THE MARKET IN THE FIRST PLACE?
If you want to know whether or not you have a product liability claim against a drug company, a Pittsburgh dangerous drugs lawyer from Shenderovich, Shenderovich & Fishman can help you determine liability by evaluating your case in a free consultation.
Some of you might be wondering, “How do those unsafe drugs enter the market if the FDA follows a strict procedure to evaluate new drugs before allowing drug manufacturers to sell their products to consumers?”
While it is true the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA is responsible for evaluating both prescription and nonprescription drugs before allowing them to enter the market, these evaluation procedures are far from flawless.
Let’s not forget that the FDA has to evaluate thousands of new drugs annually, which means there is a significant likelihood of inaccuracies and errors in these evaluations. Normally, drug manufacturers must conduct laboratory and animal tests before testing their products on humans.
Even after those tests on people, only a series of human trials can conclude whether or not a drug is safe and can be sold to consumers. In order to get a seal of approval from the FDA, drug companies must also prove that their product provides a real health benefit to treat or alleviate symptoms of a certain disease, disorder, injury, or illness.
As you may have guessed, those drug testing and approval procedures can take years, which is why the FDA offers an Accelerated Approval Program that speeds up the process of approving new drugs. In addition to that, drug companies in Pennsylvania and all across the U.S. use another shortcut: they request a Fast Track or Breakthrough Therapy designation to make their products available for sale sooner.
SEEKING COMPENSATION FOR INJURIES CAUSED BY DEFECTIVE DRUGS
Just because a drug has been approved by the FDA does not necessarily mean that the drug manufacturer will not be responsible for any injuries or damages caused to patients. If product liability cases and legal actions against such infamously famous drugs as Accutane, Cialis, Fen-Phen, Vioxx, Tequin, and Paxil (among others) are any indications, seeking compensation for harm caused by unsafe medications is not impossible if you are represented by a skilled dangerous & defective drugs attorney in Pittsburgh or elsewhere in Pennsylvania. Contact Shenderovich, Shenderovich & Fishman by calling at (412) 391-7610.
