What Is a Defective Drug?
A defective drug is any prescription or over-the-counter medication that causes an emotional, physical, or psychological injury. Just as with other products, the defect may be in the drug’s design, manufacture, or label. Some of the most commonly known defective drugs include:
- Low-T drugs. Low-T drugs, or low testosterone drugs, comprise a multi-billion dollar industry that targets middle-aged men who are suffering from the debatable condition of “Low T.” While prescriptions for these drugs have surged since the condition was first diagnosed, the drugs are inherently dangerous. In fact, studies suggest that low-T drugs lead to serious heart problems, including irregular heart rate, heart attack, blood clots, stroke, and death.
- SSRIs. SSRI drugs, standing for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are used to treat depression and other mental illnesses. For years, the dangers of SSRIs have been known, including risk of suicide, dangerous drug interactions, reduced blood clotting, stomach and uterine bleeding, withdrawal symptoms in infants whose mothers use the drugs while pregnant, premature delivery of baby, and birth defects.
- Birth control medications. Certain birth control medications, e.g. Yaz and Yasmin, have been recalled due to the serious risks they pose to women. These two specific mediations have been linked to a number of heart and blood disorders, including risk of blood clots, heart attack, stroke, and gallbladder disease.
- Xarelto and other blood thinners. Blood thinning medications have been around for decades, and in some cases, can be life-saving. However, some blood thinners are not safe. While Xarelto was developed with the intentions of the drug being a safer alternative for the more traditional Warfarin (which has been linked to stroke and birth defects), there is no antidote for Xarelto. As such, a person taking Xarelto may suffer from uncontrollable and unstoppable bleeding.
The above list of dangerous prescription medications is not inclusive. Certain diabetes medications, cholesterol medications, heartburn medications, dementia and Alzheimer’s medications, pain medications, and more have all been reported to have dangerous, and sometimes deadly, side effects.
Who Is Liable When a Drug Causes a Patient Harm?
There is nothing worse than taking a medication intended to help you, only to develop cancer, suffer a heart attack, give birth to a baby with birth defect, etc. instead. When this happens, you deserve answers, and you deserve compensation for your losses.
Parties who may be liable for damages that you have suffered include:
- Drug manufacturer. The manufacturer of the defective drug is usually the party that is held liable for any damages caused by said drug. Liability may be based on the drug maker’s failure to design a drug safe for use, conduct the proper tests on the drug to determine safety, or/and disclose information about the drug’s risks.
- Doctor. A doctor who knows of a drug’s risks, especially if those risks are specific to a specific patient (e.g. a patient with kidney problems should not be taking xyz, yet the doctor prescribes the drug to a patient with kidney problems), may be held liable.
- Pharmacy/pharmacist. Finally, the pharmacy or pharmacist may be held liable for the distribution of the dangerous drug if the pharmacist knows of the drug’s dangers, making an error in filling the prescription, etc.
