When Medication Harms Instead of Helping
Medications, like most medical treatments, have risks as well as benefits. Prescription drugs save lives and help people manage pain every day, as well as helping to control various conditions. While the vast majority of drugs are safe when used under a doctor’s supervision, some medications may have risks that outweigh their advertised benefits.
Occasionally, a drug will hit that market which, despite rigorous trials and FDA scrutiny, turns out to have side effects that are more harmful or more common than initial studies indicated. Since there’s no way to predict how a given individual will react to a new medicine, this can mean grievous harm for some patients.
Harmful Drug Side Effects
Most medication side effects are merely bothersome. Others might be dangerous without adequate warning, such as a drug known to make users sleepy or dizzy. For this reason, it’s important to carefully read all label warnings when taking a medication.
In some cases, drug side effects may be more serious. Your doctor may prescribe medicines that carry certain risks if the likely benefit to your health outweighs the risk. Your doctor, as well as the drug’s label, should warn you of possible unpleasant or harmful side effects, as well as the possibility of harm from dangerous drug interactions.
Failure to Warn
Pharmaceutical companies have a legal duty to warn prescribing physicians, pharmacists and patients of any harmful side effects that may arise from taking their products. In the absence of warning, patients would have no way to know they were taking a risk when using a particular medicine.
If, for example, you have a family history of heart disease and you’re prescribed a medication that can cause high blood pressure, you could suffer great harm if you aren’t aware that you should monitor your blood pressure closely while taking the medication. If you weren’t warned of this side effect and you suffered a heart attack, you might have a strong claim for damages.
Serious Side Effects of Medications
Over four million Americans visit a doctor or emergency room each year because of adverse side effects of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Unwanted drug side effects include:
- Increased risk of cancer
- Increased risk of heart attack
- Shortness of breath
- Liver or other organ damage
- Seizures
- Blood clots
- Uncontrolled bleeding
- Birth defects
Less serious side effects, such as dizziness, may cause serious harm if the patient doesn’t receive sufficient warning of the possibility of such an effect.
Legal Help for Victims of Harmful Drugs
If you’ve been injured, sickened or otherwise harmed by medication side effects or interactions, you could be facing an uncertain future. You may be too sick to work, while you watch medical expenses and household bills pile up. In certain circumstances, you may be able to collect financial compensation for your losses, as well as pain and suffering.
Who Could Be to Blame?
In most cases, a drug manufacturer may only be liable for harm if they failed to warn of the possibility of harm. Drug companies rely on FDA approval as outside assurance that their product is safe. There may be exceptions to this rule, such as if a lot, or batch, of product was contaminated during manufacture or packaging.
Doctors have a legal duty to inform their patients about the risks and benefits to the treatments they administer, including prescribed medicines. Some patients injured or sickened by a side effect may have a valid medical malpractice claim, particularly if the patient was already at high risk for a condition known to be a possible side effect of a medication the physician prescribes.
Pharmacists also have a legal duty to their customers. Pharmacists must be familiar with all the medications they dispense, and particularly knowledgeable about dangerous drug interactions.
When any of these professionals fails to protect you from harm, you have the right to seek compensation.