Help for Tennessee Victims of Defective Medical Devices and Dangerous Drugs

Accomplished products liability attorneys serving Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and beyond

When you feel ill, or live with an injury or condition that causes you pain, you can go to see a doctor who can cure you. Perhaps that cure is medicinal; perhaps it requires a procedure or surgery. Either way, you trust that the doctor who sees you know what he or she is doing, and that the drug or device prescribed will help ease your pain. Unfortunately, many people in Tennessee and throughout the country end up suffering serious, unintended side effects as a result.

Defective medical devices and dangerous drugs cause more harm than good, and at Delius & McKenzie, PLLC, we make sure that the people responsible for your pain and suffering are held accountable. Our Sevierville personal injury lawyers have the skills, resources and experience needed to handle complex medical products liability claims, and the drive to see these claims through to the end. If you live in or around Sevierville, Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg, and you have suffered additional harm because of a dangerous drug or defective medical device, our team wants to hear your story.

What you should know about dangerous drugs

Pharmaceutical manufacturers care about one thing, and one thing only: their profits. It has long been an accepted practice to put drugs out on the market even without a full battery of tests because it is less expensive to pay out the lawsuits than it is to recall or pull a product from the shelves. The Food and Drug Administration can issue warnings, but even they do not have the power necessary to stop bad drugs from flooding the market.

Right now, hundreds of thousands of lawsuits are gaining momentum around the country, in Multi-District Litigation (MDL), class-action suits and bellwether trials, on behalf of people who suffered serious harm after using a medication that was found to have dangerous side effects after it was released to the public. Some of the more prominent cases include:

• Androgel, a topical testosterone cream that can cause permanent hormonal changes in anyone who comes into contact with it – including women and children
• Zofran, Paxil and Prozac, anti-depressants linked to birth defects
• Sleeping aids, both over-the-counter and prescribed, which run a high risk of dependency and have been linked to overdoses
• Benicar, a blood pressure medication linked to fetal death and Sprue-like enteropathy, which is often confused with Celiac disease
• Yaz and Yasmin, birth control drugs linked to heart attacks and strokes
• Lyrica, an anti-seizure medication that may cause suicidal tendencies
• Risperdal, an anti-psychotic that leads to gynecomastia (breast growth) in teenage boys

Manufacturers and doctors are required by law to inform you when a drug could have potentially serious or deadly side effects, but many times they don’t know about them. If inadequate testing is done beforehand, or if a doctor prescribes a medication for an “off-label” use (such as prescribing an anti-depressant to help a person quit smoking), then the failure to warn element is only part of the cause.

Defective medical devices can lead to additional costs and suffering

Aside from the dangerous we face by talking certain medications, we are also in jeopardy when Big Pharma cuts corners with the production of their medical devices. In some cases, we are at additional risk because not all medical products are forced to go through the same testing. Some products are given a 510(k) exemption by the FDA. To qualify, they must:

• “Be suitable for their intended use
• Be adequately packaged and properly labeled
• Have establishment registration and device listing forms on file with FDA
• Be manufactured under a quality system (with the exception of a small number of class I devices that are subject only to complaint files and general recordkeeping requirements)”

In most cases, if Product B is similar enough to Product A, then Product B will be exempt from testing. In some cases, however, the medical devices behave in unexpected ways and lead to unintended side effects that are only realized when they are being physically used.

Right now, the more dangerous medical devices on the market include:

• Stryker and DePuy hip and knee replacements, which can wear down and necessitate a second surgery to fix
• Inferior vena cava (IVC) filters, which are designed to trap blood clots but may travel or break off throughout the body
• Power morcellators, used to break up small, benign tumors or masses, but can spread previously undiagnosed cancers
• Intra-uterine devices (IUDs), a form of implanted birth control known to travel throughout the body
• Transvaginal mesh, or pelvic mesh, which can rust, break off or imbed itself in the body

Help for Tennessee victims of defective medical devices and dangerous drugs

These cases are complex, and they often take a long time to come to fruition. At Delius & McKenzie in Sevierville, we have experience working on complex litigation matters, as well as the skills, resources and drive to see these matters through to the end. Our personal injury attorneys are in it for the long haul with you, and we are always nearby when you need us the most. Please call 865-428-8780 or fill out our contact form to make an appointment with a Sevierville defective drug lawyer serving Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and the surrounding areas.