If you have been injured because of a defective medical device, or if a relative has suffered wrongful death because of one, your best chance to receive fair compensation for your injury or loss is to consult with a dedicated Maryland defective medical devices lawyer.
Product liability laws protect the public from negligent manufacturers that create and sell dangerous products that cause harm to those who use them. Defective products can cause significant injuries, long-term health complications, and even death. Patients place their trust in medical products that are designed to heal them, and they experience physical and emotional harm when the manufacturers who create those products breach that trust by producing defective devices. Finding a Maryland defective medical devices attorney and filing a personal injury claim is a way for consumers to hold negligent product manufacturers responsible for their negligence when their defective products lead to injury or death. Civil suits have the added benefit of preventing other unwitting consumers from suffering the same harms and losses in the future.
Some examples of defective medical devices include:
- Denture Cream
- DePuy Hip Replacement
- Nuvaring
- Transvaginal Mesh (TVM)
- Medtronic Infuse Bone Graft Implant Device
- Stryker Hip Replacement
Read on to learn more about the benefits of working with a Maryland defective medical devices lawyer.
Types of Defective Medical Devices
There are a great number of medical devices that can injure you, and if you are harmed due to a defective medical device, you may be entitled to compensation from one or more liable parties, including the manufacturer.
Some, but not all, of these manufactured medical devices can include:
- Heart valves
- Knee, hip, or other joint replacements
- Pacemakers
- Stents
- Prostheses
- Transvaginal mesh or hernia patches
- IUDs
Even defibrillators, which are extremely prevalent in treatment provided by hospitals and other medical facilities, have harmed people because they were defective. To get a better understanding of whether a given device may qualify as “defective” and whether an effective claim can be filed, please contact a Maryland defective medical devices lawyer.
Liability in Defective Medical Device Cases
Defective medical device injury claims fall under a legal category that has undergone some recent revisions and rulings, and these changes could impact the success of your claim. Every year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests and approves hundreds of thousands of medical devices before they can be used in the marketplace. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that manufacturers are immune from liability if the defective product is FDA approved. On the surface, this ruling would appear to offer protection for manufacturers of FDA-approved medical products, but that is not necessarily the case.
Even after a device is approved, it is still monitored by the agency. The FDA requires the manufacturers, doctors, and other health care professionals who use the device to notify them by submitting Medical Device Reports (MDRs) that disclose failures or other events that may cause patient death, illness, or serious injury that can be attributed to the device’s use. If these reports prompt the FDA to issue a warning or recall, the device manufacturer is again at risk for liability and can be sued by injured patients or the surviving family members if wrongful death is involved. However, as long as the device is in good standing with the FDA, manufacturers are safe from civil liability lawsuits.
There is another way in which liability can be proven when it comes to medical manufacturer product liability. Failure to inform the public in a timely fashion of their defective products also makes manufacturers responsible for damages when patients are injured through normal, FDA-approved use of defective medical devices. Upon approval, the agency is very clear in certifying what each device can and cannot do. Sometimes, your doctor may use an approved device improperly, meaning in a manner outside of its scope of approved use, and thus cause harm to you. That situation would most likely become a case of malpractice rather than defective product liability. But if your doctor improperly uses a recalled device and harms you, a case might be made not only against the doctor, but the manufacturer as well.
Seeking Damages in Defective Medical Device Claims
Plaintiffs in medical device injury claim cases can seek two types of damages:
- Compensatory damages: actual damages suffered by the injured plaintiff, which usually include the direct monetary cost of repairing the physical harm as well as pain and suffering. In the event of wrongful death, emotional and monetary losses – including compensation of lost income to a surviving spouse – are also viewed as compensatory damages.
- Punitive damages: damages designed to punish the manufacturers of defective medical devices if they acted maliciously or intentionally or behaved with reckless disregard in designing or assembling the device, or disregarded the harm the device would cause to trusting patients. Punitive damages can help prevent guilty manufacturing defendants from repeating their negligent behavior.
If there are other victims who suffered similar injuries from the same defective medical device in Maryland or other states, you might discuss attaching your case to a class action or mass tort lawsuit against the manufacturer. Each has their advantages and drawbacks. Both types of suits are similar in that they target the same defendant, but there are some primary differences. In a class action suit, all plaintiff cases are tried simultaneously and judged on their collective merit. The damage awards are divided equally among each injured plaintiff. On the other hand, a mass tort allows each case to be heard individually, usually by the same judge. Each plaintiff receives damages that reflect the merits and evidence of their particular case.
Working with a Maryland Personal Injury Attorney
Because there is a statute of limitations to file a legal claim for damages in product liability cases, delaying your legal action can jeopardize your claim along with any compensation to which you may be entitled. An experienced Maryland defective medical device attorney will be able to thoroughly examine your situation in order to determine how likely your personal injury claim is to be successful. If you have been injured due to a defective medical product, contact the skilled product liability lawyers at our firm to schedule a no-cost consultation and evaluate your potential for compensation based on the harms and losses you have suffered.
