An Overview Of Dangerous Devices

The manufacturers of products as well as marketers, distributors, and retailers have a legal obligation to make sure that the product they are creating, promoting, or selling is 100% safe for use and is not under any circumstances a dangerous device. However, if a customer gets injured in any way using a defective product, the parties who were involved in the creation and marketing of the product/device can be held responsible in the court of law.

If the injured person chooses to sue the lawsuit is called a product liability case. It is strongly recommended that you seek professional help from experienced lawyers who have a good track record dealing with product liability lawsuits.

Dangerous Medical Devices

Most of the product liability cases involve a medical malpractice or a defective medical device. For instance, more recently there have been a lot of DePuy hip implant and Stryker hip implant lawsuits. The reason being was that both companies made a huge recall on their products which turned out to be dangerous devices. Instead of making people’s lives easier as they were marketed to do, they caused a huge percentage of the people to suffer.

People get easily convinced to use such dangerous devices, because they just don’t have a choice. They put their trust on medical professionals and product manufacturers to feel safer when they are getting certain surgeries or implants.

Defects of Dangerous Devices

Most of the time, innovative products are safe and get approved for customer usage. They help millions of people each day to live a better quality of life. However, occasionally, there are those products which are not tested and researched well enough but still get approved and marketed to the public. Such cases usually end with many people who get injured, some very seriously and permanently. These dangerous devices can include:

• Artificial hips, knee joints, spine discs, etc.
• Pain patches, blood glucose monitoring strips, and infusion pumps.
• Pacemakers and automatic external defibrillators.
• Breast implants, IUD’s, and catheters.
• Imaging and surgical devices.
• Renal replacement systems and hernia repair systems.
• Bone grafts, dental implants, and surgical eye devices.

These are just several examples of medical devices which could potentially have defects. Keep in mind that product defects can arise for any type of item – not only medical.

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Dangerous Devices on the Market

An investigation by Consumer Reports consisting of interviews with doctors and patients and an analysis of medical research plus a device-safety database maintained by the FDA concluded the following:

• Medical devices are often not tested enough or not tested at all before they come on the market. Usually, clinical trials are conducted on Americans which is far from enough.
• There is no systematic way for the government, researchers, or patients to see or get notified about problems with potential dangerous devices. The problem is that there are no unique serial numbers on the artificial medical devices such as hips.
• A major change in the system is required to ensure the safety of consumers.

Preventing Faulty Medical Devices from Reaching the Public

Consumers Union agrees with the Institute of Medicine that the current system of medical devices regulations doesn’t fully protect patients from harm. It is recommended that the FDA considers the following regulations:

• Creates a requirement that implants and other devices under the category of “life-sustaining” be tested at least as rigorously as drugs are being tested.
• Puts an end to the practice of using old and defective high-risk new implants and life-sustaining devices which are not tested enough.
• Forces manufacturers to start putting a unique identifier on each of these medical devices so that the patients could be quickly notified about recalls or potential safety problems or side effects.
• Creates a national registry so that future defects and problems could get spotted much more quickly and patients could get notified immediately.
• Forces manufacturers to pay more for regulatory review so that the FDA has more capital to do its job.

Until these regulations become active, patients themselves must be careful when they are considering a certain medical device, or using any device for that matter. The first thing you can do is consider alternatives. Talk to your doctor about your situation and ask them to explain to you what could happen if you don’t get that medical device inside of you.

If the surgery is unavoidable, research the medical device carefully. There are many products on the market and you would only one the one that actually has some great user feedback. Look around and ask around to see how people are reacting to the device. If it has a bad rep, forget about it. It will only cause you more problems than it solves. You can also easily access device information such as safety warnings, complaints, recalls, etc, by simply typing the device name into the website of the FDA. They have a huge database built exactly for this purpose.

If however, you already have the device implanted and you learn about recalls and complaints by other people, do not panic. Stay calm and contact your doctor for more information. Even though a device has been recalled, it doesn’t mean that it will fail for everyone using it. Head over to the FDA website to read warnings and safety measures.

Dangerous Devices Attorneys

If you or a loved one has suffered from a defective medical device, you might be entitled to compensation for your pain and suffering. We are currently accepting new cases for the following dangerous devices:

• DePuy Hip Replacement
• Stryker Hip Implant

After the respective manufacturers recalled these products, they have seen a stream of product liability lawsuits which have cost these companies in the billions of dollars. The attorneys at The Fenstersheib Law Group, P.A. have a lot of experience dealing with cases related to the aforementioned dangerous devices. Our product liability lawyers have an amazing track record and will fight until you get the reimbursement you deserve!

Get your questions answered - call us for your FREE consultation at 800-835-5762 & 954-456-2488