Category: Injury Claim

Medications, like most medical treatments, have risks as well as benefits. Prescription drugs save lives and help people manage pain every day, as well as helping to control various conditions. While the vast majority of drugs are safe when used under a doctor’s supervision, some medications may have risks that outweigh their advertised benefits.

Occasionally, a drug will hit that market which, despite rigorous trials and FDA scrutiny, turns out to have side effects that are more harmful or more common than initial studies indicated. Since there’s no way to predict how a given individual will react to a new medicine, this can mean grievous harm for some patients.

Harmful Drug Side Effects

Most medication side effects are merely bothersome. Others might be dangerous without adequate warning, such as a drug known to make users sleepy or dizzy. For this reason, it’s important to carefully read all label warnings when taking a medication.

In some cases, drug side effects may be more serious. Your doctor may prescribe medicines that carry certain risks if the likely benefit to your health outweighs the risk. Your doctor, as well as the drug’s label, should warn you of possible unpleasant or harmful side effects, as well as the possibility of harm from dangerous drug interactions.

Failure to Warn

Pharmaceutical companies have a legal duty to warn prescribing physicians, pharmacists and patients of any harmful side effects that may arise from taking their products. In the absence of warning, patients would have no way to know they were taking a risk when using a particular medicine.

If, for example, you have a family history of heart disease and you’re prescribed a medication that can cause high blood pressure, you could suffer great harm if you aren’t aware that you should monitor your blood pressure closely while taking the medication. If you weren’t warned of this side effect and you suffered a heart attack, you might have a strong claim for damages.

Serious Side Effects of Medications

Over four million Americans visit a doctor or emergency room each year because of adverse side effects of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Unwanted drug side effects include:

• Increased risk of cancer
• Increased risk of heart attack
• Shortness of breath
• Liver or other organ damage
• Seizures
• Blood clots
• Uncontrolled bleeding
• Birth defects

Less serious side effects, such as dizziness, may cause serious harm if the patient doesn’t receive sufficient warning of the possibility of such an effect.

Legal Help for Victims of Harmful Drugs

If you’ve been injured, sickened or otherwise harmed by medication side effects or interactions, you could be facing an uncertain future. You may be too sick to work, while you watch medical expenses and household bills pile up. In certain circumstances, you may be able to collect financial compensation for your losses, as well as pain and suffering.

Who Could Be to Blame?

In most cases, a drug manufacturer may only be liable for harm if they failed to warn of the possibility of harm. Drug companies rely on FDA approval as outside assurance that their product is safe. There may be exceptions to this rule, such as if a lot, or batch, of product was contaminated during manufacture or packaging.

Doctors have a legal duty to inform their patients about the risks and benefits to the treatments they administer, including prescribed medicines. Some patients injured or sickened by a side effect may have a valid medical malpractice claim, particularly if the patient was already at high risk for a condition known to be a possible side effect of a medication the physician prescribes.

Pharmacists also have a legal duty to their customers. Pharmacists must be familiar with all the medications they dispense, and particularly knowledgeable about dangerous drug interactions.

When any of these professionals fails to protect you from harm, you have the right to seek compensation.

A major burn is one of the most painful injuries you can sustain. Burns over large areas can cause excruciating agony, permanent disfigurement and intense emotional distress. Some burn victims suffer long-term psychological damage from the pain and disfigurement.

While burns are most often caused by exposure to heat, flame or scalding liquids, caustic chemicals can also burn any flesh that is exposed to them. Mild burns generally won’t need treatment beyond first aid, but major burns can land you in the hospital and may need extensive treatment.

Three Levels of Burns

Depending on the accident, you may get more than one degree of burn at a time, in different places. First-degree burns are a relatively minor injury, as are most small second-degree burns, less than two inches wide.

1. First-degree burns affect just the outer layer of the skin. They cause pain, swelling and redness.
2. Second-degree burns affect both the outer and underlying layer of skin. They cause pain, swelling, redness and blistering.
3. Third-degree burns affect the deep layers of skin. They cause white or blackened, charred skin. The skin may be numb, with pain only around the edges of the burned area.

Serious burn injuries include all third-degree as well as large second-degree burns. Smaller second-degree burns on the face, hands, feet or genitals are also serious. Additionally, these burns are particularly serious in small children and in elderly adults.

Legal Help for Burn Victims

After a serious burn injury, you may be facing an uncertain future. Aside from your mounting medical bills, you may also be missing work while you recover. The most serious burn injuries may require extensive treatment and can still leave you permanently disfigured.

If you’ve suffered major burns because of someone’s careless or reckless behavior, you may be able to collect compensation not only for your expenses, but also for your emotional anguish, pain and suffering, and future medical expenses.

You don’t have to face an uncertain future alone. Working with a caring, experienced personal injury attorney can be instrumental in helping you secure your future after a serious burn injury.

Fallen objects are a leading cause of injury on or near construction sites. While debris can fall from any high area, such as a shelf or a rooftop, the construction industry sees the greatest share of this type of accident.

Construction Site Safety

The law requires construction workers and companies to take precautions to prevent foreseeable harm—to workers and visitors as well as to people simply passing nearby. The key concept here is foreseeability. If a condition exists that a reasonable person could see is likely to cause someone to be hurt, the person or company responsible for that condition could be liable for damages if someone is injured.

For example, if heavy tools are left unsecured on a high ledge, it’s easy to see that they might fall and cause an injury. However, no one would be able to predict an earthquake that sends debris raining down upon workers and bystanders. Unsecured tools are an example of negligent behavior, while the earthquake is unforeseeable—and unpreventable.

Mistakes That Can Cause a Fallen Object Injury

When construction companies or workers don’t take reasonable steps to prevent injury, the law holds them accountable for injuries that result from their lack of care. Such mistakes may include:

• Failure to secure equipment when not in use
• Insufficient warning signage
• Barricades that are too close to hazardous areas
• Failure to enforce the use of safety gear

Have You Been Injured by a Falling Object?

If you are injured by something falling from above, the law may be able to help. If someone’s careless or reckless behavior led to your injury, you could be eligible to collect compensation for your expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering. Working with an experienced construction accident lawyer can help you determine if you should file a claim for damages.

Not sure? We’d love to help. Give us a call at (212)2281331 or contact us by email to speak to an experienced lawyer about your case, free of charge.