MASS
TORT DRUG LITIGATION
Pharmaceutical companies manufacture and market
hundreds of new drugs each year. Each product is
regulated and approved by the food and Drug
Administration before it reaches the consumer, and
every year over 200,000 people die from using these
drugs. It is estimated that more than 50% of all the
drugs marketed to the American consumer have
deleterious effects, in spite of testing and FDA
regulation.
Of all the recent examples of harmful drugs, most were
withdrawn from sale within 12 months of release. Some
drugs were still marketed by drug companies even after
evidence of serious side effects or death had been
noted. By law, drug manufacturers are strictly liable
for injuries if the product they sell is defective or
unreasonably dangerous. This can happen in several
ways.
- The product may be
defective because of an error in the manufacturing
process.
- Consumers are not
warned of possible bad effects from the use of the
product.
- The product has a
design flaw that makes it dangerous.
In all these cases, the
manufacturer is liable and can be sued for damages
even if they were unaware of the danger. It does not
matter how carefully the product was produced or
labeled.
Many drug products have caused such widespread injury
that class action suits or mass torts have been filed
against them. Some of these drugs include: Baycol, Fen
Phen, Rezulin, Propulsid, and PPA.
Of additional concern are the dietary supplements
which are becoming increasingly popular. The FDA
requires that manufacturers assure that such
supplements are safe before selling them, but there
are no testing or approval requirements.
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