When you visit a hospital or any other medical facility, you expect to receive the highest level of care and treatment possible. After all, you are putting your health and safety in the hands of these healthcare experts. Whether that means requiring surgery or receiving prescription medication, you expect a certain level of duty and respect. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Far too often, patients are left with injuries following medical care or treatment. From a medical device injury to a dangerous drug case, patients do not always receive quality care.
Often, healthcare experts use medical devices to aid in their treatments. Whether they are using surgical tools or implanting a pacemaker or prosthetic device, these devices exist to help a patient. However, when someone undergoes surgery and requires the use of a common medical device, the procedure might cause a significant injury and even death.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates, approves, and monitors the majority of medical devices that enter the market in the country. Unfortunately, whether from design, during manufacturing, or even during marketing, it may become defective. If you do suffer a medical device injury, you may be within your rights to file a medical device lawsuit.
Going up against medical device manufacturers can be a daunting and complicated task. However, with the help of a trusted Oklahoma medical device injury attorney, you set yourself up for success. If you or someone you loved suffered a medical device injury, give AMA Law a call today and let us fight for you.
What is a Medical Device?
Unfortunately, medical device injuries occur at an alarming rate. Since 2008, there have been over 1.7 million injuries caused by medical devices, as well as over 80,000 deaths. These injuries happen with medical devices of all kinds. For one reason or another, these devices fail to do what experts designed them to do.
A medical device is any product that has the purpose of assisting medical professionals in treating an injury or illness in a patient. These professionals use these devices to diagnose, treat, or prevent these ailments. By definition, medical devices can range from something as simple as a bandage or crutch to a surgically implanted pacemaker or metal hip replacement.
As with all medical procedures, medical devices come with inherent risks. However, there is an expectation when it comes to how they function that patients rely on for their safety. When this expectation is not met, a patient may be in their rights to file a medical device injury lawsuit.
Common Medical Device Injuries
Whenever a medical device does not assist a patient the way that it is supposed to, it can result in a host of outcomes. Unfortunately, most of these outcomes are negative and are often life-threatening.
Some of the most common medical device injuries you can suffer include:
- Infections
- Allergic reactions
- Organ loss
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Tears in the tissues or organs
- Severe pain
- Internal bleeding
- Bodily rejection
- Metallosis (a type of metal poisoning that often occurs as a side effect of a joint replacement with metal components, such as a hip replacement)
- Permanent disability (such as paralysis)
- Death
As you can see, the outcomes of medical device injuries range in severity. Some can easily be treated without long-term damage, while others are life-threatening. If you begin to experience adverse reactions to a medical device, seek medical emergency immediately.
Once treated, contact an Oklahoma medical device injury attorney to figure out what your next steps should be.
Common Medical Device Lawsuits AMA Law Handles
AMA Law has years of experience handling countless medical device injury lawsuits involving a host of different devices. We understand what it takes going up against these manufacturers and distributors, and we have what it takes to fight for the compensation you deserve.
Some of the most common medical device lawsuits we handle involve:
- Allergan Breast Implants: In July 2019, the FDA recalled textured breast implants manufactured by Allergan. They became aware of a growing number of cancer cases linked to these medical devices.
- Bard Recovery IVC Filter: The Bard Recovery filter is a medical device that is supposed to detect and stop blood clots before they become a serious issue. However, experts have linked this particular filter with fractures and migration that can cause severe internal injuries and even life-threatening conditions, causing death in a few cases. Additionally, numerous studies have come out that indicate that these filters have a high failure rate.
- Transvaginal Mesh: Doctors use transvaginal mesh to repair or reinforce weakened areas within the vagina. However, in 2011, healthcare experts discovered that this mesh causes serious complications for countless women, such as infection, erosion through vaginal epithelium, urinary problems, and much more.
Types of Medical Device Lawsuits
Medical device lawsuits can be incredibly complicated. Once you have determined that a medical device is responsible for your injury, you then have to go up against product manufacturers. These manufacturers have plenty of resources to fight back against you, so you have to be ready.
One of the most vital parts of any medical device injury lawsuit is determining what kind of case it is. There are three main types of device lawsuits. They are:
- Design Defect: A design defect occurs when there is a problem or mistake in the design of the product. Because of this, a device might improperly function because someone designed it improperly.
- Manufacturing Defect: A product can be adequately designed and still cause an injury. Often, these accidents happen because of an issue during the manufacturing process, meaning someone put the device together incorrectly.
- Marketing Defect: This defect involves a failure to warn doctors, patients, or any other involved party of the potential dangers of the device. This defect also includes inaccurate warning labels and false claims.
Who is Liable?
These lawsuits are never easy. While these devices exist to help people, manufacturers often fight back against these claims vigorously. They do this because admitting liability would lead to massive financial losses that they may not be able to recover from in the future.
When filing a medical device injury lawsuit, anyone who was involved in getting a device to the public can be liable. Those that designed the device, the manufacturers, the distributors, the doctor that used it, and the marketers can all be held accountable.
To recover damages, you must prove:
- The defendant had a duty of care to keep you safe
- The defendant breached this duty, whether due to negligence or recklessness, that lead to your injury
- Your injuries were a result of a defective device
- Your injuries led to compensable damages
Medical device injury lawsuits can be incredibly complex. Often, you have to go up against multi-million-dollar organizations. However, with the help of a trusted Oklahoma personal injury attorney, you can recover damages for your injuries. Give AMA Law a call today and let us fight for you.