Medical Products Liability Claims Hold Manufacturers Responsible for Harm Caused by Their Products

Medical products are an important part of treating patients. Well manufactured products prescribed and used responsibly keep millions of Americans healthy; treating a variety of health issues from heart disease to Type 2 Diabetes to back pain. Unfortunately, not all products are well designed or manufactured. For example, prescription drugs can cause irreparable harm when they are rushed to market without adequate safety testing or warnings. While the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reviews all safety data before approving new drugs, sometimes information comes to light after a product has been used by thousands of patients. In other cases, a product is generally safe but manufacturing errors can lead to bad batches of medication that cause serious adverse health effects. Medical products liability law helps to hold manufacturers responsible for these adverse health effects.

Medical products liability

Patients have the right to make an informed choice about any medical treatment they receive. When a patient is harmed because of a defective medical product or device without receiving adequate warning about the product’s potentially dangerous side effects or defects; a products liability claim may be an appropriate way to seek a settlement for the victim’s injuries and losses.

Products liability is the area of law that compensates the injured party and holds manufacturers liable when their devices or products malfunction and cause harm to users.

If you or a loved one was injured by a medical product or device without adequate warning about the possibility of dangerous side effects, you may be able to reach a favorable settlement with the help of a Seattle products liability attorney. The injury lawyer can assess your case and discuss your legal rights during a free consultation.

What is the difference between a medical products liability claim and a medical malpractice claim?

While both medical product liability claims and medical malpractice claims are brought to seek justice for an injured person, these claims have one main difference. A medical products liability claim is a lawsuit brought against a manufacturer while a medical malpractice claim is brought against a physician, hospital, or other health care provider. It comes down to which party acted negligently. If a doctor prescribes medication that causes harm but they could not have known that the batch of pills that would be dispensed to their patient was manufactured improperly, a claim would most likely be brought against the manufacturer under medical products liability law.

By contrast, under medical malpractice law, a doctor has a duty to inform their patients about any known potential side effects and alternatives to treatment so their patient can make an informed decision before undergoing treatment. If a physician fails to gain informed consent and their patient is harmed as a result of treatment, the physician may be vulnerable to a medical malpractice lawsuit.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to bring both a defective product and a medical malpractice suit. For example, if a physician implants a defective medical device without informing their patient of alternative treatment options, two lawsuits may be appropriate.

Over the years there have been a wide range of products that have proven to be defective from breast implants to pacemakers to a long list of prescription drugs, causing serious harm to patients. If you were injured by a defective medical product, you may be able to recover damages through a medical products liability claim. A wrongful death claim may be the right course of action if you lost a loved one to a defective product.

The Seattle Personal Injury Attorneys You Want on Your Side

The personal injury attorneys at Tinker Law Firm have been winning birth injury, medical malpractice, and personal injury cases for individuals and their loved ones in Seattle and across Washington State since 1974. We seek justice for injury victims who have been harmed by preventable medical errors, and the negligent or abusive actions of another. Our clients pay no fees or expenses to file a personal injury claim; our firm advances out-of-pocket expenses and is only reimbursed when we recover a settlement on your behalf. Do not delay; personal injury claims in Washington State have a statute of limitations, which means they must be filed within a certain time from the date of the injury.

Call us now at 206-842-1000 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation with one of our skilled and experienced injury attorneys.