Dangerous products of all varieties pose unsuspected hazards to consumers. Everything from auto defects to unsafe appliances and dangerous toys can cause injury to Americans, from California to New York and from Texas to Wisconsin. Product liability attorneys often provide the sole source of legal recourse for plaintiffs against manufacturers, distributors and retailers when government regulators have failed to detect or recall consumer products that cause harm to innocent people.
Defective drugs with serious side effects pose particular hazards to those who depend on prescription pharmaceuticals to treat a chronic medical condition. One subset of potentially dangerous drugs that has received much recent scrutiny is antipsychotic drugs (originally called neuroleptic drugs), which were once only reserved for serious mental illnesses such as hallucinatory schizophrenia. In the last decade, Big Pharma companies have encouraged use of such medications for a variety of other patients, including an alarming increase in treatment of children for bipolar disorders as an alternative to cognitive and behavioral therapies.
More than 500,000 American youths have been prescribed antipsychotic drugs, which have become best-selling products for drug manufacturers, but many commentators caution that the risks have been understated. Every major pharmaceutical company selling antipsychotic drugs - including Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and AstraZeneca- has recently settled cases with government watchdogs or is under investigation for health care fraud regarding their suggested use.
The earliest common antipsychotic drugs, Thorazine and Haldol, were often rejected by patients because of side effects like involuntary movement and restlessness. While new generation drugs such as Risperdal, Geodon, Seroquel and Zypexra have been touted as being safer than their predecessors, the makers acknowledge side effects such as nausea, drowsiness, weight gain and links to diabetes. The recent legal actions that drug companies have faced include civil actions and white-collar criminal convictions of industry employees.
Product Liability Lawyers Help Victims of Defective Drugs Assess Their Legal Options
One important option for patients who are harmed by prescription drugs is to pursue legal action under the federal False Claims Act. This group of laws prohibits questionable marketing tactics by drug companies, including compensation to doctors and support of false or biased studies that tout a drug's benefits, understate its risks or promote its use for medical conditions for which it was not sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
When unreasonably dangerous or defectively manufactured drugs cause injury, perpetuate an illness or even cause death, aggressive legal action not only provides justice for victims and surviving family members - it provides a serious incentive for drug companies to prevent further harm to others. A thorough consultation with a personal injury attorney who understands the complexities of defective drug litigation can be the first step to health recovery and meaningful compensation.
