Many people throughout the U.S. take prescription medications to control their pain, manage illnesses, calm their nerves, help them sleep, help them stay awake, and more. Prescription medication has grown exponentially, and in today’s society, it’s more uncommon to find someone who hasn’t been prescribed something as part of a medical treatment plan. However, when prescription drugs come with dangerous side effects, those who take them end up suffering from a whole new set of complications—and sometimes, these complications could have been avoided with more strict measures for evaluating prescription drug safety.
The Side Effects Are Often Very Dangerous…and Sometimes Deadly
While prescription drugs may be the answer to some people’s prayers, they don’t always lead to a clean bill of health for those who use them. If you’ve been prescribed a medication by your doctor, the reasonable assumption is that the medication has been tested, and that your doctor is aware of the side effects and possible complications, and has adequately evaluated the risk of using these medications with their treatment values. This assumption, however, is not always an accurate one—many prescription medications have serious side effects that can cause injury, further health issues, and even death.
Some side effects are to be expected when making a new medication, but when a manufacturer rushes through the process and fails to obtain the necessary approvals, a drug with a few minor side effects for some users can actually be a prescription that is defective, and dangerous to a large majority of the population. Defective drugs can cause a condition to worsen, instead of treating the problem, or cause additional sicknesses and complications. Defective drugs can cause a person to suffer extensive pain or experience failure of organs and bodily functions.
Sometimes, these defects are the result of shoddy work at the manufacturing lab, or work done too quickly. Steps may be missed in the manufacturing process, or tests and trials hurried in an effort to get the drug out in stores and doctor’s offices more quickly. In other cases, defective drugs are deliberately marketed without proper warning labels and approvals, because the manufacturer is more concerned with the profits he stands to make than the lives he could be saving.
Options for Affected Victims
If you’re prescribed a medication that has serious, life-threatening side effects, or you have a loved one whose medication caused his or her death, there are steps that can be taken to get compensation from the drug manufacturer. In most cases, a product liability lawsuit can prove that a manufacturer deliberately made and sold a defective drug, or failed to disclose the side effects or their severity, or neglected any step of the process that caused harm to those who used it.
If you or your loved one has suffered injuries or medical complications as a result of dangerous prescription drugs, seek legal guidance as soon as possible. You may be entitled to restitution that will help cover increased medical bills and pain and suffering.