We focus 100% of our time representing injured Bakersfield residents.
The trust that patients place in the healthcare system extends beyond the trust that they place in healthcare providers. Patients understandably assume that as long as they read the warning labels on the drugs they take and pay attention when their physician briefs them about the safety risks associated with medical devices that they’ve been fully informed of the challenges that may befall them if they accept a particular type of treatment. However, far too often, medical device and drug manufacturers fail to earn the trust that patients necessarily assume when they seek medical care. Tragically, when pharmaceutical products prove to be dangerous in previously unknown ways and medical devices prove to be defective or otherwise hazardous to the wellbeing of patients, the consequences can be severe, catastrophic, or even fatal.
Commercials and other forms of advertising for drugs and medical devices are accompanied by disclaimers and warning information that is often so lengthy and detailed that those exposed to this advertising tune the information out. Partially as a result of the fact that drugs and devices with potentially catastrophic side effects are advertised regularly, victims of dangerous drug outcomes and defective medical devices too often dismiss the idea that they may be able to hold manufacturers liable for the harm they’ve suffered. They assume that because drugs and devices are, to some degree, inherently dangerous that there is “nothing to be done” about the harm that they’ve experienced. It is critically important not to make assumptions about whether you have grounds to file legal action against a pharmaceutical company or a medical device manufacturer before you’ve spoken with a personal injury attorney experienced in cases involving product liability issues. You may be entitled to a significant amount of compensation and, by exploring your legal options, you may help to prevent others from experiencing similar harm.
Our firm is proud to serve the legal needs of those who have been harmed by dangerous pharmaceutical products and defective medical devices. Too often, patients trust that the medical resources that they are accessing are safe when they aren’t. Too often, patients believe that they don’t have any rights in this regard when they do. It is our firm’s mission to ensure that anyone who has been unlawfully harmed by a pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturer is able to see justice done and to receive as much compensation as they are entitled to under the circumstances they’re facing. We believe in aggressive advocacy of our clients because we know that a focused, determined, and dedicated approach is the only way that major corporations can be held accountable successfully.
It is possible that you’re seeking legal guidance now because you’ve already reported the harm you’ve suffered to the manufacturer of the offending product and the manufacturer has approached you with a settlement offer. It is critically important that you not accept any settlement offer that has been extended before you’ve allowed an attorney to review that offer. This is the only way to ensure that your rights as an accident victim are protected and that the settlement offer that has been extended is fairly valued.
Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers are for-profit companies interested in protecting their reputations and bottom lines. As a result, they have decent motivation for extending you a settlement offer, as in doing so, they may be able to avoid costly litigation and a public relations scandal. With that said, there is no guarantee that the settlement offer you have been extended is fairly valued. The offending company may hope that you’ll be motivated to take the money (instead of weathering the time and effort that litigation requires) to the extent that it won’t matter to you that the amount of compensation being offered is far less than you deserve. In short, you can’t know whether a settlement offer is worth taking until you allow an attorney to determine whether it is a fair settlement offer overall. If you’ve been offered a settlement, our experienced team would be happy to conduct an initial review of that offer during your free, risk-free case evaluation process.
The personal injury process progresses in much the same way, whether someone has been injured in a truck accident or has slipped and fallen as a result of an ill-maintained retail parking structure. Almost all personal injury cases need to prove the following criteria if they are going to succeed:
The injury victim was owed a duty of care by the party they are seeking to hold responsible;
The allegedly responsible party breached its duty of care to the injury victim by acting or failing to act in ways considered negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous under the law; and
The injury victim’s harm was caused as a direct result of the responsible party’s breach in its duty of care.
One of the notable areas of personal injury law that doesn’t always follow this legal “formula” is product liability law. It is possible that your case, depending on the unique circumstances that define it, will need to prove each of these criteria in turn. However, it is also possible that your case falls under a strict liability or warranty-based scenario. If this is the case, the standards that our team will need to try to meet on your behalf will be different.
Most California product liability cases require that the injury victim prove that the party they are seeking to hold responsible for their harm designed, manufactured, or sold a product that was defective, the injury victim used the product in a so-called “reasonably foreseeable manner” and the harm that the injury victim suffered was directly caused by the product’s defects. To be held accountable for the defects, dangers, or other unlawful issues with its products, a company ordinarily must have behaved in ways considered negligent, grossly negligent, reckless, or intentionally harmful under the law. However, there are situations in which a company in the chain of distribution for a product may be held strictly liable for the harm it has caused. Strict liability cases allow injury victims to hold companies accountable even if the harm suffered did not result from negligent business practices. If the drug or device that caused you harm contained inadequate warnings or was far more dangerous than it should have been, it is possible that you’ll be able to file a strict liability case. Our firm will clarify whether your particular circumstances allow for this possibility.
In whatever time you have before your consultation is scheduled to occur, please take some time to prepare for this meeting. The best way to ensure that we can provide you with the personalized information you’ll need to make knowledgeable choices about your legal situation is to prepare both questions and information in advance. Start by taking time to write down any questions and concerns that you and your loved ones have about your situation. These questions may relate to pursuing legal action, accepting a settlement offer, covering the costs associated with the harm you’ve suffered, or entering into an attorney-client relationship with a member of our firm. We will be more than happy to answer each of your questions in turn. Writing them down will help to ensure that you don’t waste valuable time during your no-cost consultation trying to remember what it is that you wanted to ask us.
Additionally, you’ll want to gather any information you may have that will allow us to understand the details of your case more clearly. The only way we can assess your case accurately is if we have access to information about the details of your situation. Therefore, if you have records of when you began using the product, a prescription for that product and/or doctor’s notes about why it was recommended that you use the offending product, medical records pertaining to the adverse effects you suffered as a result of using the product, etc., please bring this information to your consultation for our reference. Similarly, if you believe that there is anyone we could benefit from speaking with to gain a more complete picture of your situation, please bring their names and
contact information to your consultation as well. Taking a little time to prepare in advance for your meeting will help to ensure that it is as productive and as helpful to you as possible.
If you haven’t already done so, our firm will likely encourage you to report your experience to the Consumer Product Safety Commission in the event that you were harmed by a defective medical device or the Food and Drug Administration in the event that you were harmed by a dangerous pharmaceutical product. Reporting the adverse effects that you have experienced will help federal agencies maintain a record of how many patients were harmed by a particular product and in what ways. Reporting this data may seem like a relatively insignificant act, but making this effort can actually help to effect meaningful change. Most recalls are initiated because consumers, patients, and injured workers report that they have been harmed to the authorities. Once these reports begin to accumulate, class action suits may be filed and regulations may even be changed in response to victims’ collective experience. In reporting your experience to the relevant authorities, you may help to ensure that others avoid the same challenges that you’re currently navigating, which is a noble and worthy use of your time.
You can schedule a risk-free, “strings-free” case evaluation with our experienced legal team by connecting with us online or by calling our office directly. We offer free case evaluations to those harmed by defective medical devices and pharmaceutical products because we believe that every patient who has entrusted their physical wellbeing to the healthcare industry and has been harmed through no fault of their own deserves to understand their rights under the law, regardless of whether they can afford to pay for legal guidance. Please note as well that you don’t need to know “for sure” that a pharmaceutical product or medical device is causing you harm to explore your legal options. Oftentimes, it takes a bit of investigative work to confirm that a client’s suspicions that a product is causing the harm they’re suffering is correct. It is a far better idea to discuss your concerns with our legal team than it would be to wonder “What if?” while the statute of limitations ticks down on your ability to file a claim. Please, even if you’re not sure of whether you have grounds to file legal action at this time, contact our firm today to clarify your rights and learn more about your legal options. We look forward to speaking with you.
If you have been injured by a medication or a medical device, please call us for a free consultation. We look forward to speaking with you.
Call, email, or use our contact form below.
Delivering results through compassion, experience, and dedication.
All Rights Reserved | Apex Legal Media | Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Statement | Disclaimer