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Types Of Pharmaceuticals
- Prescription – These are drugs that you can only get with a doctor’s order and must be filled by a pharmacist. Pharmaceutical companies must warn prescribing doctors of the risks of these drugs and the doctors in turn should warn the patient so that the patient may ultimately weigh the risks and benefits of taking these medications.
- Over-the-Counter (OTC) – These are drugs that can be purchased everywhere from a pharmacy to a gas station and do not require a doctor to prescribe them. The drug manufacturers are responsible for making sure the drugs are safe and adequately warn the consumer of their risks.
- Surgical & Clinical – These drugs are used in clinical settings where a doctor or other professional is directly administering the medication. These drugs can have a wide range of effects and could be anything from anesthetics to antibiotics.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring that pharmaceutical companies follow processes that create a “reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness” for their products. This includes testing efficacy before releasing a pharmaceutical as well as creating a framework for how drugs are recalled if a manufacturer discovers a defect in their product. It can be very expensive and time consuming for a pharmaceutical company to follow these regulations to get a safe and effective product ready to market. The government recognizes this cost and grants exclusive rights to the pharmaceutical companies in exchange for taking the risk. This allows the company to maximize the profits of a drug by charging whatever the market will bear, as long as they have the protection of the patent, typically twenty years.
This structure of laws and regulations incentivizes pharmaceutical companies to spare no expense in researching and developing drugs. However, oftentimes drug manufacturers spend much more on marketing their pharmaceutical products than they do researching and developing these drugs. Once to market, drug manufacturers can become consumed in gaining market share for their drugs. The demands of their shareholders or corporate owners to make more money can cause the pharmaceutical company to look at alternative ways to increase profitability, including overlooking safety risks and failing to warn about the risks. Our attorneys have seen examples of pharmaceutical companies cutting corners to get drugs to market as quickly as possible, turning their eye from certain side effects or even covering up the risks of their products. When pharmaceutical companies put profits over people and cause harm to you, you have legal remedies to receive compensatory damages and to punish the pharmaceutical company for the damage done.
Types of Dangerous Drug and Pharmaceutical Liability
Pharmaceutical companies have duties and responsibilities put in place by the law to ensure that individuals using their products, whether prescribed by their doctor or purchased over the counter, have a certain level of confidence that the product will work as intended.
- Failure to Warn – If a drug could be dangerous, the manufacturer has a duty to warn you about it. If there are side effects, you should be notified as to what they are. Any failure to clearly state these warnings could be reason to seek legal action.
- Design Defect – What a pharmaceutical company decides to put in a drug could cause it to become dangerous. If the ingredients interact in a way that causes harm, it could cause catastrophic damage to individuals who consume it.
- Manufacturing Defect – We expect pharmaceuticals to be manufactured in a clean and controlled environment in order to ensure they work as prescribed. If a drug were to become dangerous during the manufacturing process, including anything from contamination to defective packaging, the manufacturer could be legally liable.
- Labeling Defect – If a drug were to be mislabeled, it could lead to adverse effects on those using it. This can include anything from technical errors, missing or incomplete information or any other failure to fully and accurately inform the end consumer.
How can a Kansas City Pharmaceutical Liability Attorney Help?
When pharmaceutical companies put the entire nation at risk, a court will select highly qualified attorneys to a Plaintiffs Steering Committee which represents the injured individuals. The attorneys at Preuss | Foster Law have been appointed to these steering committees by numerous courts throughout the country. Our attorneys have represented individuals in some of the largest and most consequential pharmaceutical liability cases, winning hundreds of millions of dollars for our clients. Having this experience is vital in going up against large pharmaceutical companies that have hundreds of attorneys and limitless resources. It is difficult to find this combination of expertise and experience outside of law firms where clients are faceless case numbers. We take a much different approach. Our attorneys take on a smaller caseload that allows us to have one-on-one interactions with our clients to give them the individualized attention they deserve. We focus on providing this close working relationship so that you can feel confident knowing that your case and your concerns are being heard by your attorney. We find that this personalized approach allows us to be better informed about our clients’ cases by asking questions, having conversations, and understanding your story.
Contact a Kansas City Pharmaceutical Liability Attorney Today
The pharmaceutical liability attorneys at Preuss | Foster Law have the legal experience and dedication to help you pursue any damages you may be owed for any dangerous drug related issue. If you were injured while taking any prescription, over-the-counter or other type of medication, call us at (816) 307-2788 for a no-fee consultation, to discuss the details of your case in confidence.