Defective medical devices can cause irreparable damage to your health, say personal injury attorneys in Jacksonville. Advances in medicine are aimed at promising healthier bodies and longer lives. Still, each new development inevitably comes with certain risks even when medical products are perfectly designed, made and used. But when it comes to defective medical devices, attorneys with Jacksonville’s Harrell and Harrell want to make sure you have all the facts. In recent years, medical devices that have come under legal fire include:
-
- Defibrillators – Small electronic devices implanted in a patient’s heart that deliver electric shocks to maintain normal heart rhythm;
-
- Stents – Tubes, often coated with drugs, inserted into an artery to prevent blockage;
-
- Implants – Synthetic devices implanted to restore function to the patient’s hip, shoulder or other disabled body part;
-
- Contraceptive devices – Birth control implants, IUDs and diaphragms.
When medical devices fail, the health implications for the patient can be devastating, causing further damage, disability or even death. To help secure fair compensation for their losses, patients or their surviving family members can file medical product liability cases, which typically are one of three primary types:
-
- Defective manufacture: These cases center on medical devices that were improperly manufactured or otherwise damaged as a result of an error at the manufacturing facility, a shipping problem, or a mishap occurring at a hospital or doctor’s office.
-
- Defective design: These cases involve medical devices that were properly manufactured but have an unreasonably dangerous design that can result in injury.
-
- Defective marketing: These cases focus the way a medical device is marketed to healthcare providers or directly to patients, or the advice given to patients concerning use and risk of the device. Marketing or advice problems can include inadequate or inaccurate warnings or instructions, the lack of warnings or instructions on the part of the manufacturer, sales representative, hospital, physician or other medical provider.
Depending upon the nature of your defective medical device case, potential defendants can include the manufacturer, clinical testing laboratory, medical sales representative, doctor, hospital, clinic or retail supplier. A solid case will depend on your ability to prove that you or your dependent were injured, that the medical device was in fact defectively designed, manufactured or marketed; and that defect or improper marketing directly caused the injury. Time is critical as well. Statutes of limitations mandate that you file your case within a certain amount of time after you suffered or knew about the injury. Though the facts may seem straightforward, going it alone is never recommended. Your best bet is to contact an experienced and reputable defective medical device attorney.