Little Rock Defective Drug Lawyers
Arkansas advocates for clients injured from defective prescription drugs
At Bailey & Greer, PLLC, we have been fighting for justice for those who have been injured after taking prescription medications since 1986. Our Little Rock defective prescription drug attorneys are here to make sure that you recover fair compensation for your injuries from taking a defective prescription drug. We offer free consultations where you can discuss your case and discover your legal options.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports about 48.6% of Americans have used at least one prescription drug in the past 30 days, and 12.8% have used five or more prescription medications in the past 30 days. About 6.3 billion prescriptions were filled in the U.S. in 2020. When your doctor prescribes a drug to treat an ailment or a disease, you trust that the drug is safe and that it will perform as promised. In most cases, people take their medication and it works and they go on with their day. But in some cases, the medications that you trusted to cure you end up making you even sicker or cause serious injury and death.
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Examples of defective prescription drugs and the injuries they have caused
The following is just a sampling of some of the various prescription drugs that have been recalled, or have caused serious injuries and even death:
- Actos has been linked to an increased risk of bladder cancer.
- Invokana has been associated with ketoacidosis, kidney damage and amputations.
- Taxotere, a chemotherapy drug, may cause permanent hair loss.
- Zofran has been associated with birth defects in infants whose mothers took the drug while pregnant.
- Reglan may cause Tardive Dyskinesia, which involves uncontrolled, jerking movements.
- Avandia has been associated with a higher risk of congestive heart failure and myocardial ischemia.
- Fluoroquinolone antibiotic may cause peripheral neuropathy
- Xarelto may cause uncontrolled bleeding
- Fosomax has been linked to an increased risk of femur and hip fractures, osteonecrosis of the jaw and other serious side effects.
Doesn’t FDA approval mean that a prescription drug is safe?
Consumers often assume that because a drug has been approved by the FDA it must have been proven safe. This is not true. Pharmaceutical manufacturers must get FDA approval before they can market their products to consumers, however there is nothing stopping a drug maker from withholding information about the drug that could jeopardize its approval, adequate safety warnings might be left off warning labels and unfavorable results from clinical trials can be suppressed.
What can you do if a prescription drug you are taking has been recalled?
Harvard Medical School recommends that if you find out that you are taking a drug that has been recalled, you might:
- Call your pharmacy
- Visit the FDA's drug recall website
- Visit the website of the drug manufacturer
- Read or watch the news
Drug recalls often include specific batches of a medication. You can call your pharmacy to make sure that the lot number and expiration date of the medication you have is not affected by the recall. If your batch of the medication has been recalled, your pharmacist should have instructions on what you should do. For some drugs it is unsafe to simply stop taking them, so be sure to get guidance from the pharmacist before you stop taking a prescribed medication.
What is the role of the FDA in defective prescription drug recalls?
A drug recall is a voluntary action that a company can take to remove a defective drug from the market. A company can issue a voluntary recall, or the FDA can require the recall to take place. There are three classifications for defective drug recalls:
- Class I: A dangerous or defective product that could cause serious health problems or death.
- Class II: A product that might cause a temporary health problem or pose slight threat of a serious nature.
- Class III: A products that is unlikely to cause any adverse health reaction, but that violates FDA labeling or manufacturing laws.
The FDA does not list every recall on its website or in the news media, but is a product poses a serious health hazard, the FDA may issue a public notification of the recall. The FDA maintains a database for recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts.
What damages can I recover in a defective prescription drug injury case?
In Arkansas, the law provides a venue for those who have sustained an injury after taking a prescription drug to seek compensation. If you are successful in proving the drug manufacturer's liability, you may be able to recover damages such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of consortium
- Medical expenses past, current and future related to the injury
- Lost income
- Disability
- Other losses
- Wrongful death
How can a Little Rock prescription drug lawyer help me?
If you or a loved one has been injured after taking a defective prescription drug, you will require the services of an experienced product liability lawyer to represent you in pursuing compensation for your injuries and losses. A defective prescription drug lawyer can help because they are thoroughly familiar with the law, and they have helped countless people before you obtain justice when they were injured because of the negligence of the drug makers.
Before you can obtain compensation in a defective drug injury case you will be required to prove that the prescription drug caused your injury. This requires working with medical subject matter experts who can review your medical records and provide the evidence that proves a causal connection between the drug and your injury.
We have been helping injured people like you to obtain justice since 1986. We combine our in-depth knowledge of the law and decades of experience trying cases in court. Our attorneys fight hard to win justice for our client because we believe that everyone deserves a chance at a brighter future after they have sustained an injury because of a defective prescription medication that was supposed to help them.
Schedule a free consultation to discuss your defective prescription drug injury case today
The Arkansas defective prescription drug lawyers at Bailey & Greer, PLLC, are here to provide you with the legal expertise you need when a loved one has been injured because of defective drugs and you want to pursue compensation. You may call 501-213-1512 or you can complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation.
