If you or a loved one has been harmed by defective medical device or product, you may be entitled to compensation. When a manufacturer misleads consumers into thinking its devices or products are completely safe with no risk of defect, they are held liable when an incident caused by a defect occurs. Our team of Austin personal injury lawyers at Gibson Hill Personal Injury will be happy to help you if a manufacturer’s negligence harms you. Call us at (737) 249-6300 for a free consultation and one of our experienced attorneys can assist you right away with how to proceed in your case.
Why Choose Us?
Our team of defective medical device attorneys at Gibson Hill Personal Injury will stop at nothing to get a favorable result for each of our clients and get the compensation that they deserve. We understand the tough situations that our clients find themselves in, and we strive to do our absolute best to help them recover every time.
Our relationships with our clients are always defined by compassion and understanding. For everyone else, we will aggressively protect your rights and communicate that you deserve to be justly compensated for the negligence of manufactures.
We have experience with these types of cases, and we are determined to hold device manufacturers accountable when a defective medical device or product hurts consumers.
Cases We Handle
To protect the safety of consumers, whenever a medical device or product defect is found, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires manufacturers to notify them immediately. This policy includes the responsibility for manufacturers to notify the FDA when a device is used that causes illness, injury, or even death.
Companies are subsequently required to submit a Medical Device Report (MDR) that the FDA can then publish as a notice for the public to see. Another way that the FDA can obtain knowledge of a medical device or product is by receiving reports from the volunteer MedWatch.
This volunteer program is open to physicians, nurses, and biomedical engineers who offer to monitor medical devices or products for defects. While the FDA carries the responsibility of making sure that medical devices or products are safe before they go into use, the devices do not undergo real-life testing. Therefore, even when these medical devices and products are approved for use by medical professionals, the FDA does not have the assurance that they are entirely safe for human use.
Furthermore, the FDA isn’t able to monitor physicians, who are the ones responsible for using or prescribing the medical devices and products and may prescribe them for non-approved uses.
As it stands, the FDA only has the authority to make sure that medical devices or products are safe by regulating the manufacturers who make them. If you find it likely that a defective medical device or product have harmed you, you may encounter the question of how medical product liability is established.
The fact of the matter is that there is no federal law governing medical product liability. Instead, it falls on the individual who was harmed or the family of a victim who is deceased to prove that there is, in fact, a defect in a medical device or product that caused harm.
If you have cause to believe that a defective medical device or product harmed you, the wise thing to do is to contact an attorney right away.
Your lawyer will conduct an investigation into your particular procedure, as well as the history of the medical device or product in question.
They will take into account the extent of both your economic and non-economic losses in your situation that will contribute to how much you could potentially be compensated.
Statistics
Despite the outstanding reputation of the FDA in certifying that products are safe and protecting the public’s safety, the fact remains that even with the FDA’s approval, some products turn out to be not safe and potentially a danger to the public. Some statistics in recent years show an alarming trend of the risk in medical devices and products increasing. For one, medical device recalls have increased in recent years.
The number of medical device recalls caused by a software issue have increased from 243 in 2015 to 301 in 2018.
On a broader scale, medical device recalls as a whole are increasing in number. In the first quarter of 2018, there was a 126 percent increase in medical device recalls. This is a rather alarming increase, and in total there were 208 million units recalled that quarter. Furthermore, there was a report issued by Stericycle Expert Solutions explaining that there were 343 separate recalls.
More information from the report reveals that among these recalls, an average of 607,000 units were affected. Consistent with the previously mentioned data, software issues were the main reason for the recalls. Of the 343 recalls, 78 were caused by a software issue. The next most common recall reason was mislabeling issues, which caused 73 recalls. Interestingly the cumulative amount of recalls for the rest of the year of 2018 wasn’t as high as the first quarter, but they were still significant. In the second quarter of 2018, there were 42.4 million units recalled. In the third quarter of 2018, there were 29.4 million units recalled. In the final quarter of 2018, there were 161 million units recalled.
Frequently Asked Questions About Defective Medical Devices
Below are some frequently asked questions regarding cases involving defective medical devices or products. If you have any other questions, do not hesitate to contact us at (737) 249-6300 to speak with one of our experienced attorneys.
No, the best course of action is for you to contact one of our experienced attorneys and follow their guidance on how to proceed in your situation. Before you continue with anything, it is important to know the full extent of your legal rights.
No, you shouldn’t, as they aren’t in your corner, instead they want to minimize the costs for the device companies and health care providers they work for. They often try to offer lowball settlements that are much less than what you are owed. You should speak with an experienced attorney who can give you sound advice based on your circumstances.
No, you shouldn’t, as these insurance companies work for the device companies and health care providers. Considering this, they may try to offer you a lowball settlement so the case will be settled before you know the details of your case and the full extent of what you are owed. It is wise to contact an experienced attorney and follow their recommended strategy on how to proceed in your case.
Contact Us
If a defective medical device has harmed you or a loved one, the Austin attorneys at Gibson Hill Personal Injury can help you hold the manufacturer accountable and make sure that you get the full and fair compensation you’re owed.
Contact us at (737) 249-6300 to set up a free consultation, with our experienced defective medical device attorneys today.