Today, individuals in Texas and elsewhere rely on modern medicine. This often means that prescription drugs are used to treat or address illnesses or medical conditions. Patients likely trust the medical professional that prescribed the medication as well as the pharmacist that filled it. However, patients may not consider the role the pharmaceutical companies play when it comes to putting these products in the market and ensuring the safety of the patients that use these medications.
Pharmaceutical product liability
With regards to products liability actions, pharmaceutical drugs and medicines are often the cause of the suit. While issues can occur with prescribing and administration of the drugs, issues occur in the manufacturing of these products. Therefore, manufacturers have the duty to properly and diligently test prescription drugs and medicines prior to releasing them into the market. While meeting industry standards and being properly licensed by the FDA allows the drug to enter the market, it does not have any impact when it comes to the liability of the manufacturer if the drug is proven to be defective.
Causes for defect
Various reasons could lead to a pharmaceutical drug liability suit. To begin, a prescription drug could be deemed unavoidably unsafe. This means that there is no possible way to make the drug completely safe no matter how careful the manufacturer is. These drugs may have potentially harmful side effects despite being beneficial to the user. So long as the drug is properly prepared and has adequate warnings with it, liability usually with not be placed on the manufacturer for this reason.
However, a drug manufacturer has the duty to warn. This means that if they fail to warn of side effect, liability could occur. However, this only applies to known dangers. If an individual suffers from unknown dangers, they could likely be excused form liability.
Finally, there could be time lapse issue. This means that it may be difficult for an individual to identify the precise manufacturer of the defective product due to the elapse of time and evidence no longer being available. This could occur when a pregnant woman ingested the drug during pregnancy, but the damages were not apparent until after her child was grown. In these matters, it may be possible to hold potentially liable manufactures liable for the damages.
Coping with the challenges
When harm results from a pharmaceutical company, it can be a difficult time to navigate. It may not be clear at the time what caused the patient harm, which makes it especially important that one explores their options when it comes to protecting their rights and interests in the matter.