Texas Defective Medical Devices Lawyer

Why You Need to Speak to a Defective Medical Device Lawyer

A surprising amount of people significantly overestimate the inherent morals and ethics of medical device companies. While companies often get into this field to improve people’s lives and help people, the underlying drive is usually money. This means that when a device fails and causes severe damage to a victim, paying out the full amount the victim is owed is not their top priority.

Not only does a fair and full settlement drain their profits, but it also opens them up to further problems down the line. After all, if a faulty device damages you, it is unlikely that you are the only one impacted. If word gets out of your successful settlement, other victims affected in the same way could line up asking for the same treatment. To prevent both outcomes, medical device manufacturers spend an excessive amount of money on their legal teams. They limit their liability from the outset as much as possible. When legal claims do arise, they do everything they can to avoid paying out the amount the victim truly deserves.

The only way to fight back against this treatment is to hire a defective medical device lawyer who knows exactly how these companies evade liability. Since they know what tricks the companies are likely to use, they can build a case that disputes these points and proves the link between your injuries and their device.

Furthermore, a strong defective medical device attorney can help you understand your rights and fight for the compensation you deserve. In some cases, an investigation uncovers evidence that a company knew about the errors in their device before they sent it to market. This is a tactic that some companies use—if they know about a mistake but believe that paying out settlements will cost less than fixing the error; they may take the risk and send it to market anyway. When this occurs, the victim is often entitled to punitive damages.

When you’ve been harmed by something that is supposed to help you, you deserve the best legal representation available. Let our product liability attorneys help.

Common Defective Medical Devices

Any medical component can fail and cause health issues for users. However, some of the common problems arise with the following:

• Pacemakers and pacemaker recalls that victims weren’t notified of
• Defibrillators
• Intrauterine devices (IUDs)
• Knee replacements and other joint replacements
• Transvaginal mesh
• Breast implants
• Heart valves
• Stents
• Pain pumps
• Inhalers
• IVC filters
• Prosthetic limbs

Injuries Caused by Medical Device Malfunctions

The types of injuries suffered by victims vary widely, depending on the type of device they used and how long they used it without knowing it was defective. Some of the health issues we have seen among victims include:

• Serious infections, sometimes leading to sepsis and wrongful death
• Chronic pain
• Device migration within the body
• Multiple follow-up revision surgeries, which can be expensive, painful, and ineffective
• Allergic reactions to components within the devices
• Organ damage
• Organ loss
• Inflammation and other immune responses
• Issues with the health condition that the device was intended to fix

When people place trust in their medical devices, they often believe that their medical condition is no longer an issue, as they should be able to do. However, this may lead victims to ignore symptoms and warning signs that their condition has worsened or returned. Because of this, victims may suffer irreversible damage or death due to a faulty medical component.

Why Medical Product Defects Are So Common

If you’re like most people, you may think that medical device lawsuit cases are few and far between. After all, we’ve seen the rigorous testing that vaccines and treatment options go through before being released to the public. However, one loophole allows medical device manufacturers to bypass the thorough screening required of new devices.

The 510(k) clearance process is essentially a fast-track to approval for new devices. To use this, a manufacturer must show that the new item is similar to one that already exists and is approved for use. The current product is referred to as a predicate device. Since it’s based on an existing item, the new item does not have to go through the same testing and approval procedures as other items. By claiming that a new product is substantially equivalent to an already-approved product, manufacturers can get their items on the market faster and make money more quickly. An even more shocking fact is that a product can get approval via the 510(k) process even if it has caused health problems, as long as the predicate device has not been recalled.

This process was created to get Americans faster access to lifesaving medical devices. However, it has been primarily misused by manufacturers who see it as a way to bypass the scrutiny of the FDA and start making money as soon as possible. A substantial amount of FDA medical device recalls are for products approved via the 510(k) process.