Products Liability
Defective products can fail in dramatic ways and cause catastrophic injuries, including limb amputations, severe burns, electrocution, and death. Data from the Insurance Information Institute show that median and average personal injury awards in product liability matters far outstrip all other categories, including medical malpractice, vehicular liability, premises liability, personal negligence and business negligence.
Product manufacturers, and in some cases distributors or retailers, can be held strictly liable for products that were defectively designed or defectively manufactured, or which did not contain adequate warnings or instructions for their safe use. Plaintiffs must prove the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s (or other defendant’s) control and that the defect was the cause of the injury. Plaintiffs’ lawyers must also be ready to prove the extent of money damages they are looking for, often with the help of medical experts, certified legal nurse consultants, or certified life care planners.
OnPoint Legal Nurse Consulting helps plaintiffs’ attorneys in product liability matters in a myriad number of ways. We can locate the right medical expert for your case, someone who has been screened and vetted as qualified to testify about the particular injury involved and what the lifetime medical costs are likely to be. Our Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can retrieve and organize the medical records you need for your case so you can understand the medical issues involved and be prepared to consult with your expert, depose the expert for the opposing party, and get the facts in front of the jury that will prove your case. Our team develops trial graphics and provides other necessary litigation support to get you there.
Call OnPoint Legal Nurse Consulting for help screening or litigating a products liability case in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, or nationwide, including cases involving dangerous drugs, defective medical devices, or toxic exposure.
Dangerous Drugs
Prescription drugs should never get to market before they have been tested for safety and efficacy by the Food and Drug Administration, but sometimes adverse effects are not discovered, or drug manufacturers get around the approval process by claiming their new drug is basically the same as some other drug that’s already been approved. Unfortunately, a defective or dangerous drug could have adverse side effects that are worse than the condition they are supposed to treat. These adverse effects range from the harmful to the fatal.
Drug manufacturers can be held liable for defects in the design or manufacture of medications, or for failing to provide adequate warnings and labeling regarding side effects, contraindications, dosage, drug interactions, and other medical concerns. And while off-label use of an approved medication is not inherently illegal, drug makers can be liable for off-label marketing that results in substantial harm.
Defective Medical Devices
Dozens of medical devices are recalled by the FDA every year for errors in their design or manufacture that can and do cause serious injury or death. Common causes for medical device recalls include:
- Scopes and surgical instruments that can’t be properly sterilized due to defects in their design
- Implants that break or detach and migrate throughout the body, obstructing or perforating arteries and veins
- Monitors, meters and drug delivery systems that report inaccurate results or deliver the wrong dosage of medication
- Electrical medical equipment that loses power while in operation
- Software in medical devices that malfunctions or crashes
- Saline solutions containing particulate matter or are contaminated with bacteria
Toxic Exposure
Products liability law also covers injuries caused by exposure to harmful chemicals. These cases range from household cleaners and industrial solvents that don’t contain clear instructions about what safety precautions are required, to foreign imported drywall products that leach formaldehyde or other harmful chemicals into the air. Depending on state law, plaintiffs might need expert witnesses who can prove that the suspected toxin is capable of proving the claimed injuries and that the plaintiff was exposed to a sufficient amount of the chemical to cause the injury claimed.
Products Liability Case Evaluation and Litigation Support
OnPoint helps attorneys evaluate and prove their cases in all of these areas. Our Certified Legal Nurse Consultants provide medical case evaluation at the outset to help you determine whether you likely have a viable case. We conduct the medical research and organize the medical records to give you a firm grasp of the issues in your case in a well-organized, analyzed and summarized fashion.
Our team also locates the right medical experts and consultants for your case whose analyses and deposition or trial testimony can position you to recover the maximum compensation, including economic damages analysis, pain and suffering, and life care planning. You can also count on OnPoint to create trial graphics that clearly and convincingly show the injury and damages caused by the defective product and its effects on your client’s future.
Let OnPoint Legal Nurse Consulting Help You Evaluate and Win Your Products Liability Case
For help with your products liability case, call OnPoint Legal Nurse Consulting. From our head office in Philadelphia, we help plaintiffs’ attorneys throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as Florida and nationwide. We maintain long-term relationships with our clients, who appreciate the rapid response they receive from us, the quality of work we provide, how easy we are to work with, and our ability to meet all of your litigation support needs.
