What to do if you are looking for the best medical malpractice attorney Washington DC has to offer
If you are looking for the best medical malpractice attorney Washington DC has to offer, you are likely looking for someone who understands that prescription drugs have an accompanying list of potential side effects that the medication can cause. Your doctor or pharmacist may have warned you about mixing the medication with other drugs or even with certain foods. In many cases, patients who take the drug as prescribed will either experience no side effects, will only experience minor side effects that go away after they discontinue the prescription, or will experience side effects that can be treated with another medication.
When pharmaceutical companies warn patients of potential side effects, it’s typically the patient’s responsibility to take note of these risks. So why exactly are pharmaceutical liability lawsuits so common? Here what the best medical malpractice attorneys Washington DC has to offer have to say on the issue.
Duty to Warn Patients
Drug manufacturers have a duty to warn patients of potential side effects when the manufacturer knows about the side effects or should know. Most companies discover potential side effects during clinical trials. There have been instances in the past where a large group of people experienced a serious side effect from a drug but were never warned about it beforehand; in these cases, the victims may argue that, based on the number of people affected by the side effect, the manufacturer should have known about the side effect during clinical trials.
The best medical malpractice attorney in Washington DC should understand that drug manufacturers are often legally considered experts in regards to the drugs they produce, which means that in the eyes of the law, they’re held to a very high standard. If a potential side effect is discovered after the drug has been out on the market, manufacturers have a duty to research this and convey the information to doctors and pharmacists.
Risks Outweigh the Benefits
Manufacturers might also be liable if the side effects and risks of a drug clearly outweigh the benefits. Even if the drug manufacturer informs patients and doctors of the risks, a court may still find a drug company negligent if it put a drug on the market that was clearly unsafe.
The best medical malpractice attorney Washington DC offers should also understand that this type of lawsuit is difficult to bring against a drug manufacturer. Prescription drugs and vaccines are often considered “unavoidably unsafe” products, which means that the drug is never completely safe but still has the potential to produce significant benefits that cannot be found elsewhere.
Harmful Effects Are Delayed
In other cases, the full harmful effects of a medication only became clear long after the drug was on the market. In the past, this has been very common with prescription drugs that were given to pregnant women. Although the drug manufacturer might have done everything correctly at the time, they may still be held accountable if their product caused significant and irreversible harm.
Healthcare Worker Liability
If you are looking for the best medical malpractice attorney Washington DC trusts, seek out someone who knows that when a lawsuit is brought against a pharmaceutical company, it is often considered a product liability claim. However, healthcare workers can make errors relating to prescription drugs. Doctors might prescribe the wrong dosage, hospital nurses might administer the wrong medication, and pharmacists might fail to alert a patient of a possible serious side effect. When the damage from a prescription drug is caused by a preventable human error, it is likely a malpractice claim.
If you or someone you love has suffered from a prescription drug, don’t hesitate to contact a medical malpractice lawyer to discuss possible legal remedies. Call Cohen & Cohen to set up your free consultation.
